Relief Toothache with these simple yet amazing tips. Tooth pain can be caused by a number of problems, such as gum disease, a cracked tooth, an abnormal bite, or if you grind your teeth. For all intents and purposes, we’re going to be focused on tooth pain caused by tooth decay, as that is the most common root cause (pun very much intended), although these remedies will help with pain from a variety of causes.
Relief Toothache with these 3 steps
1 – SALTWATER RINSE
Saltwater can really help a sore tooth heal after a procedure, or ease pain before you can get the tooth checked out. To understand it, here’s a very simplified version of what goes down as decay is eating away at your tooth. Bacteria in the mouth feeds off of sugars in the diet-namely sucrose.
When it breaks down the sugar, it produces lactic acid. This lactic acid eats away at
the enamel, into the dentin, and so on until the pulp becomes infected. The infection can then spread and turn into an abscess or what have you. The salt, however, helps to neutralize the lactic acid. This can slow the process of decay significantly, and also relieve pain.
The warm salt water will also help contract inflamed tissues as it draws excess fluid out of them, further easing discomfort.
INSTRUCTION
-1 cup of warm salt water
-1/2 teaspoon sea salt
DIRECTION
Mix the salt into a glass of warm water. Swish the water around for 1 minute, then spit it out. Repeat until the glass is gone. You can do this as many times a day as needed until you can get to the dentist.
2 – PEPPERMINT OIL
A good dose of peppermint essential oil can do the trick when it comes to numbing tooth pain. Awhopping 3,000 tons of menthol, the naturally occurring constituent in peppermint, are manufactured annually to be used in over the counter pain relieving, gels, creams, rubs, and sprays. It’s one of nature’s most effective pain killers.
A type of molecule known as a ligand, present in the menthol, attaches itself to a protein known as the k-opioid receptor (KOR.) KORs are one of four receptors that bind opiate-like compounds in the brain, and control the effects of those compounds. Among the effects is the perception of pain-basically, KOR agonists are analgesic.
Menthol is a KOR agonist, naturally occurring in mint, which is what makes it such an effective pain blocker. In addition to this, it can desensitize a region through TRPM8, also known as the cold menthol receptor. If you’d like the full name for that, it’s transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily M member 8.
You can whip that out next time someone brings up anything minty.
Menthol does not actually change temperature-the activation of the TRPM8 simply “tricks” the braininto registering a cold sensation.
INSTRUCTION:
-Pure peppermint essential oil
-Cotton balls or cotton swabs
DIRECTION
Mix 10-15 drops of peppermint essential oil into 2 tablespoons of neutral oil (grapeseed, olive oil, etc.) It’s important to dilute the oil first so as to avoid any irritation. Soak a cotton ball in the oil and pack it around the sore tooth, or soak a cotton swab and swab the gum surrounding the sore tooth. Repeat as needed.
3 – ALCOHOL
Although, I avoid alcohol in my remedies if at all possible, but you know what? Sometimes, it’s a great remedy. Especially when it comes to surviving excruciating pain until the dentist is open. You’ll read a number of conflicting view points on whether or not it actually numbs pain, but I for one think it does.
I can’t trump the American Dental Association, which claims there is no basis to the remedy, but I canattest to personal experience.
Ingesting alcohol doesn’t numb pain in a direct sense, but it can slow down the responses of the central nervous system-including the transmission of pain. When applied topically (this remedy does not call for drinking) it probably doesn’t affect the CNS, but it does seem to do something to numb the area. It’s long been old wives remedy, but it’s a good one.
INSTRUCTION
-Whiskey or Bourbon
-A cotton ball
DIRECTION
Soak the cotton ball in the alcohol, and squeeze out the excess so it isn’t dripping all over the place. Pack it in by the sore tooth and let it sit. Repeat as necessary. If you’d rather not put a whole cotton ball in there, soak a cotton swab in the alcohol and swab it over the gum around the sore tooth.
