Four Simple Ways to Take Care of a Toothache

The dreaded toothache. It will wake you up in the middle of the night and take the joy out of your favorite meal. Tooth pain may be a bummer, but it is only your tooth’s way of asking for help. It is its way of letting you know a visit to the dentist is overdue.

How painful is a toothache?

The intensity of a toothache usually depends on how badly damaged the tooth is. The pain can be as mild as tooth sensitivity or it can be as excruciating as the sensation a person feels when they have a dental abscess.

For every level of pain, there is a way to make a person’s life a little more bearable as they wait to see the dentist.

1. Use a salt-water mouth rinse to reduce inflammation

An inflamed tooth causes pain. This means that to reduce this kind of toothache a person should remove the inflammation. A mouth rinse is one way to do this.

Take saltwater, for example. It is a natural disinfectant that cleans the aching tooth while killing off infection and treating open wounds. To make a saltwater solution, mix half a teaspoon of salt into a glass of warm water.

Swirl the water around the mouth, taking care to target the aching tooth, and spit out the saltwater. Repeat until all the water is gone. The tooth should feel better in a little while. Use a salt rinse until a dentist treats the tooth.

2. Use a hydrogen peroxide rinse

Like salt, hydrogen peroxide is a disinfectant that fights inflammation. It also treats open wounds. To manage painful teeth or gums, make a glass of peroxide mouth rinse by mixing equal parts water, and 3 percent hydrogen peroxide.

Use the mixture as a mouth rinse, and remember to spit it out. Rinse the mouth over and over until the mixture is gone

3. Use a cold compress

If a toothache is caused by an injury, a cold compress or an ice cube can manage the pain until the dentist repairs the tooth.

Numb the tooth by placing a cold compress at the site of the aching tooth. Hold the compress to the problem area for 20 minutes. The tooth will become numb and any inflammation will be reduced for a while.

Repeat the process several times a day while waiting to see the dentist.

4. Use clove oil

Clove oil has antiseptic properties. It also numbs the nerves for a short while. Make your aching tooth feel better by applying clove oil directly to the problem tooth. Put some clove oil on some cotton wool and dab the tooth with it.

These are only temporary measures

More often than not, tooth pain will not go away on its own. It will only get worse and take you on a journey to a place where you will discover new levels of pain.

Let one of our dentists stop your toothache dead in its tracks. They will have you back to your old, pain-free self after a single visit.

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Request an appointment here: https://dragonflydentalportcharlotte.com or call Dragonfly Dental of Port Charlotte at (941) 676-9225 for an appointment in our Port Charlotte office.