Ouch! What To Do About Toothaches
When you have a toothache, you want to find out what's causing it, help prevent further pain and irritation and have the problem taken care of. This article will be very helpful when it comes to knowing just what to do when you first start experiencing pain in one or more of your teeth. Follow the tips below to help feel better and prevent worse problems.
Call your dentist
A toothache represents a problem with your tooth, so the first thing you want to do is make an appointment to get in to see your dentist, so they can treat the underlying cause of the pain. If it's an infection causing it, they can put you on antibiotics. If it is a crack or chip causing it, they may be able to fix the problem by putting a crown on the tooth. If the tooth is decayed, they may suggest a root canal or tooth extraction.
Start rising your mouth with warm salt water
Warm salt water has properties that change the pH balance in your mouth from an acidic one to an alkaline one. Since bacteria flourishes in an acidic environment, this will help to fend off worsening of some problems and help fight off infection. The warm salt water will also help to take away the pain. Mix a teaspoon of table salt in a coffee mug filled with warm water and swish it around, focusing on getting most of it near the tooth that is causing problems.
Use a home remedy to take care of the pain
There are a lot of home remedies you can choose from in order to take away the pain of a toothache, and these home remedies can often work better than using the gels you can purchase in the stores. One home remedy is to bite down on an ice cube that's medium-sized and allow it to melt naturally. While ice may hurt your teeth under other circumstances, it can really help when there is already some pain. You can also dip a piece of cotton into clove oil and stick the cotton right next to the hurting tooth. It will sting a little at first, but then you should get much relief from the pain.
Treating the problem
Once you go to the dentist (such as one from Family Dentistry Of Brick, PA), you will find out the cause of the problem and it will be treated. In most cases, the pain will begin to subside after treatment, but you can use the remedies above in case the pain lingers.