One of the worst things to deal with at night is a toothache and a toothache can happen for a variety of reasons. It happens most often at night because you feel the pain from anything the most at that time. For instance, if you have sensitive teeth and you had ice cream earlier in the evening, you will likely feel your teeth throbbing at night. How do you get rid of that? There are nine ways to get your teeth to stop hurting. Let’s go over them now.
Take OTC Pain Medication
If you take ibuprofen or acetaminophen at night, it will help you with pain relief. However, do not exceed the recommended dosages of these pain meds. If you are taking these and you are still struggling with pain in your teeth, then you will need to make an appointment with your dentist.
Use A Cold Compress
If you do not want to take OTC pain relievers, you can always use a cold compress to help with pain relief. You can take an ice pack and wrap it in a towel and then place it at the side of the mouth where the tooth hurts. You will want to ensure that you place it for about 15 to 20 minutes every few hours at night so it helps to calm the pain.
Elevate Your Head
If you don’t elevate your head, that will cause your blood to pool which can cause inflammation and pain, and that will worsen your toothache. If you take an extra pillow and place it under you, that will elevate your head and can help with pain relief. That is because the blood will flow better.
OTC Ointments
You can always take ointments such as benzocaine as it can help to numb the area of the tooth where you are experiencing the most pain. However, if you have a child that has a toothache, they must only use the ointments for kids as benzocaine is not for kids!
Rinse With Salt Water
If you don’t mind saltwater, you can use it to rinse out your mouth and that can help relieve toothaches. Salt is a natural antibacterial property and that is why saltwater is great to rinse with after having oral surgery and it helps with toothaches as well. It can help reduce inflammation and can prevent any teeth that are not in good shape from being infected. It can also help remove old food particles.
Rinse With Hydrogen Peroxide
If you have a toothache because of having a gum infection, then you will want to rinse with equal parts water and food-grade hydrogen peroxide mixed together. Swish it for about 30 seconds and then spit every ounce of it out as you do not want to swallow it. Children cannot use this remedy as they could swallow.
Peppermint Tea
Another great remedy is peppermint tea as you could swish it around your mouth and it can help numb the area of the toothache. You can also suck on peppermint teabags as they can help numb and relieve the area. The reason that peppermint tea can be helpful is due to the ingredient menthol which has numbing effects.
Cloves
Cloves are a great remedy for tooth pain because it contains Eugenol that has numbing effects as it acts as an analgesic. The best thing to do is to ground cloves and mix them with water as it will create a paste. You can apply it to the tooth or place it into an empty tea bag and place that on the affected area.
Garlic
Garlic can also help with relieving tooth pain. It contains an ingredient, allicin which is potent and has a strong antibacterial effect. That can help kill the bacteria that may be responsible for tooth pain. You can grind garlic and apply it to your tooth only if you like the taste. If not, then you do not need to use this remedy.
If none of these remedies work, then you will need to see your dentist as you could have a serious tooth infection that a dentist can treat with antibiotics.
