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Tasos Fitness

The Health & Fitness Lifestyle
Toothache

5 Top Tips for Dealing With a Toothache

Toothaches can be extremely painful and uncomfortable. They can prevent you from sleeping, can make you grumpy and moody, and can even affect your ability to eat. If you have a very bad toothache, a visit to an emergency dentist may be needed. However, if it isn’t too bad you could think about making an appointment with your regular dentist to get it dealt with.

If you decide to wait for an appointment, there are a few little things that you can do to make your life easier. Don’t simply live in the pain: try and make yourself as comfortable as possible using the following tips and tricks:

  1. Try and deal with the swelling:

Often the pain associated with a toothache comes from swelling around the affected area. If you can somehow deal with the swelling, you should be able to dramatically reduce the pain. Try placing an ice-pack on your jaw if you are in a lot of pain. Take anti-inflammatory medicines if you have them, and do anything else you can think of to get the swelling down!

  1. Avoid hot and cold foods:

Very hot and very cold foods – like ice cream or coffee – can make tooth aches that much worse. If possible, avoid extremes of temperature when you have a toothache. Anything that you can do to reduce inflammation and make your mouth more comfortable will make your life much easier, and avoiding certain foods is a must when you have a toothache.

  1. Try gargling salt water:

Salt is a great antibacterial agent, and gargling salt water can help reduce the pain and discomfort associated with a toothache. Simply mix a couple of teaspoons of salt with a couple of hundred milliliters of warm water. Make sure that the salt is dissolved, and then gargle a bit of the water. Swish it around your mouth a bit, and make sure that you concentrate on the affected area. Don’t swallow the water or you may become sick.

  1. Use a painkiller!

If your toothache is particularly bad, consider taking painkillers. Although standard paracetamol painkillers will work, ibuprofen is usually a better option. Ibuprofen is also an anti-inflammatory, so it will help reduce swelling and inflammation around your tooth, making your life much more comfortable until you can see a dentist. If you would like a more natural option, use clove oil or whole cloves. As a natural anti-inflammatory and painkiller, chewing a clove can help reduce pain and inflammation in the affected area.

  1. Visit an emergency dentist!

Although this may be a last resort, due to the cost and inconvenience associated with it, visiting an emergency dentist is always an option when you have a bad toothache. Emergency dentists can treat the root of the problem, removing your toothache once and for all.

Although toothaches can be annoying and painful, don’t just wait for them to go away on their own. Being proactive can make your life that much better and can make living with a toothache pretty easy.