Toothache home remedies while you wait for the dentist

Tooth pain has a particular cruelty to it: it arrives on a Friday evening, it does not respond to distraction, and it makes sleep impossible.

Everything on this page is for the wait. A toothache is a symptom with a physical cause, usually decay, an infection or a cracked filling, and none of those resolves because you rinsed with salt. French grandmothers knew this perfectly well, which is why their remedies were frankly about pain rather than cure.

MedlinePlus says the same thing about the most obvious option: “you can use over-the-counter pain medicine if you can’t see your dentist or primary health care provider right away.” Take that as read. What follows sits alongside it.

Cold on the cheek

Wrap a few ice cubes in a clean thin cloth, never on bare skin, and hold it against the cheek over the painful side for 10 to 15 minutes. No more than three times a day.

Cold numbs, and it brings down swelling, which is what makes it the first thing to reach for when the side of the face has puffed up.

On the cheek, not the tooth. Ice held directly against an exposed or sensitive tooth produces a spike of pain rather than relief.

It is the same reflex that opens our headache remedies, and for the same reason: cold is the cheapest anesthetic in the house.

The two mouthwashes

Use one of these twice a day, for no more than 5 days.

Salt water. Dissolve 1 teaspoon (5 g) of fine salt in 1 cup (250 ml) of lukewarm water. Hold it in the mouth for 30 seconds, concentrating on the painful side, then spit it out. Salt draws fluid out of inflamed tissue and rinses the area clean.

Baking soda. Dissolve 1 level teaspoon (5 g) of baking soda in 1 cup (250 ml) of lukewarm water, swish for 30 seconds, spit. This is the one for a mouth that feels acidic and sour.

Spit, never swallow. And not for anyone on a strict salt-free diet if there is any chance of swallowing it.

The same salt rinse, at the same strength, is one of our sore throat remedies, where it is doing an almost identical job a few inches further back.

Clove

The oldest dental remedy in Europe, and the one that will be familiar to anyone whose grandmother had a jar of them.

Steep 3 cloves, lightly crushed, in 1 cup (250 ml) of just-boiled water for 10 minutes. Let it cool to lukewarm and use it as a mouthwash, swishing gently around the painful tooth for 30 seconds, then spitting it out. Twice a day, no more than 5 days.

Why cloves and not something else: they contain eugenol, which has been used in dentistry for a very long time and which is what gives clove its numbing character. NCCIH has no clove page, so we are handing on a long practice, not a scientific claim.

Use the infusion rather than the oil. Undiluted clove oil dabbed straight onto a tooth is the version circulating online, and it burns gum tissue and the tongue. The mouthwash gives you the same ingredient without the injury.

The ginger paste

Mix 1 teaspoon of ginger powder with a little water and ½ teaspoon of coconut oil into a paste. Put a small amount on a cotton ball and hold it against the painful tooth for 10 to 15 minutes, then rinse with lukewarm water. Twice a day at most, for 3 days.

Never on an open or bleeding gum.

Peppermint essential oil, with real limits

Dilute 1 drop of peppermint essential oil in 1 teaspoon (5 ml) of olive or coconut oil. With a cotton swab, apply it gently to the gum beside the tooth, avoiding the tooth itself, where the cold sensation can set off a sharp pain. Leave a few minutes, rinse.

Who must not use it: pregnant or nursing women, children under 12, people with epilepsy, and people with asthma. Do not swallow it.

And a caution from the science. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health states that menthol should not be inhaled by, or applied to the face of, an infant or small child, because it may affect their breathing. That is why the age limit here is firm rather than cautious.

Two pressure points

Grandmothers used these and so do a lot of people who would never call it acupressure.

The hand point. In the fleshy web between thumb and index finger, on the hand opposite the painful side. Massage in firm circles for 2 minutes.

The jaw point. Just in front of the earlobe, in the hollow that appears when you open your mouth. Massage gently for 1 minute.

Not during pregnancy. The hand point is traditionally avoided in pregnancy because it is held to stimulate contractions, and this is not the occasion to test that.

We would not claim a mechanism here. What we can say is that it costs nothing, it can be done in a waiting room, and it gives the hands something to do at three in the morning.

Green clay on a swollen cheek

Into a glass bowl, never metal, put 2 tablespoons of ultra-fine green clay and enough mineral water to make a thick paste. Spread a ⅜ inch (1 cm) layer on a compress and apply it to the outside of the cheek. Leave 30 to 45 minutes and remove it before it dries out. Rinse.

For the outer cheek only, when it has swollen. Never reuse the clay.

When to see a dentist, and when it will not wait

MedlinePlus gives three triggers, and they are usefully low:

• a severe toothache;
• a toothache lasting longer than a day or two;
• fever, earache, or pain when opening your mouth wide.

Source: MedlinePlus.

That third line is the one people miss. Fever with tooth pain means an infection that is no longer confined to the tooth, and pain on opening the mouth wide points the same way. Neither is a wait-and-see situation.

Go to an emergency room, or call 911, if there is swelling that is spreading into the neck or under the jaw, difficulty breathing or swallowing, swelling that is closing an eye, or a fever with a spreading swelling. A dental infection that reaches the airway is a genuine emergency and it can move quickly.

When the tooth is not the problem

Worth knowing, because it sends people to the wrong appointment.

Upper back teeth share a thin wall of bone with the sinuses. A sinus infection presses on the roots of the upper molars and produces what feels exactly like toothache, usually in several upper teeth at once, on both sides or across a whole row, and it typically gets worse when you bend forward or go down stairs.

A real toothache is usually one tooth, it responds to hot or cold on that tooth, and bending over does not change it.

If yours matches the first description, and you have had a cold or a blocked nose recently, our sinusitis remedies may be the page you actually need. If you are not sure, that is precisely what a dentist can settle in five minutes.

FAQ

Is oil of cloves safe to put straight on the tooth?

We would not. Undiluted clove oil burns the gum and the tongue, and a chemical burn on top of a toothache is a poor trade. The clove mouthwash above gives you the same ingredient at a strength your mouth can handle.

Why does the toothache always get worse at night?

Partly because lying down increases the blood pressure in the head, which presses on an already inflamed nerve, and partly because there is nothing else to think about. Propping the head up on an extra pillow genuinely helps, and it is free.

Can I just keep taking painkillers until the appointment?

For a couple of days, following the instructions on the box, that is exactly what MedlinePlus suggests. What painkillers must not do is postpone the appointment. Pain that stops is not a tooth that healed, and an infection that goes quiet is still an infection.