Straight Teeth in Less Time

Three Potential Home Remedies For Temporary Tooth Pain Relief

29 March 2016

Lois Murray

If you've developed a toothache at a time of day or night that is outside regular business hours for most dentists, the idea of trying to sleep and wait until the next business day to get the tooth looked at might seem impossible. In an attempt to dull the pain without having to take too many pain killers, you might turn to home remedies for toothaches. These are, for the most part, fairly harmless, though some of them do come with warnings and caveats. Here's a look at three potential remedies that may help you temporarily numb the pain.

Clove Oil

Clove oil contains a substance called eugenol. This is a natural anesthetic that can numb surfaces that come in contact with it. According to Mother Earth Living, clove oil is about 85 to 90 percent eugenol, so applying a small amount of the oil can pack a pleasantly numb punch. The New York Times says to apply a "very small amount" of the oil, using a cotton swab, to the area that is painful.

Note that the effects will be very temporary, but they could be enough to let you relax and get to sleep. Don't apply the oil to areas that don't hurt (so wipe off anything that lands in the wrong spot), and don't apply a lot of clove oil because you risk ingesting it -- in the same article, the New York Times also says that too much clove oil that is ingested can lead to respiratory and liver difficulties.

Vanilla Extract

Vanilla extract is another substance that you can try using for pain relief in small amounts, but you have to be sure it's traditional vanilla extract that contains alcohol. Vanilla flavoring that is oil-based, such as alcohol-free extracts, or artificial flavor that doesn't contain alcohol, won't work because the active ingredient is actually the alcohol. Alcohol has its own numbing properties, but it doesn't taste nearly as nice as vanilla extract to a lot of people. As with clove oil, dab a bit of the extract on the painful area using a cotton swab.

Peppermint Tea

A cooled, wet peppermint tea bag placed against the painful tooth may offer pain relief through a few mechanisms. One is that the cool feeling of the bag -- especially if you've placed it in the freezer for a short time -- helps soothe sore spots. Another is that peppermint itself can have some numbing effects. But again, this is temporary, and you're not going to be able to sleep with a tea bag stuck in your mouth. That's a choking risk that you don't want to take.

Of course, it's better if you can get to a dentist, and your city may have all-night dental clinics open for emergencies like yours. Try calling those clinics, too, to see if they can help you out overnight instead of making you wait. You can also check online for emergency dentists at sites like http://www.emergencydentistva.com.

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