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If you’re researching how to ease tooth pain online, there’s a good chance you may be in some pain right now. So let’s not dawdle and get right to the remedies.

Go to Your Dentist Office

Call them and state your emergency. If that’s not possible, call your local emergency hospital and see if they have a dentist on call. The dentist is your surest way of getting rid of that toothache. Have someone take you to the dentist’s office because driving while in pain isn’t really a good idea.

But what if it’s late at night and you want to just go to sleep so that you can go to the dentist the next morning?

Painkillers

Just take the recommended dose on the bottle. Ibuprofen can work, and some swear by mefenamic acid. That’s the problem with all the possible remedies for tooth pain—everyone reacts differently, and some may be helped while others would be unaffected.

Home Remedies

While waiting for painkillers to take effect, there are other things you can do. According to various anecdotal accounts, these methods have worked for quite a few people. Try any of them to see which one works for you:

  • Take a fresh piece of ginger and chew it a little near the tooth that’s hurting. You can also try fresh cucumber or fresh onion.
  • Take a fresh slice of garlic clove and put it on the gums near the painful area.
  • Rub Vicks vapor rub on your upper and lower jaw (on the outside of your mouth), and on your face.
  • Take some vanilla extract (or lemon, almond or peppermint extract) and saturate a cotton ball in it then hold it in place over the painful area. You can also try to use a cotton swab dipped in the extract. Or you can pour the extract on a spoon and swish it in your mouth on the painful side.
  • You can also use apple cider vinegar on a cotton ball or swab.
  • Baking soda may work too. Moisten a cotton swab with water then coat it with baking soda, then apply to the painful area. If you can’t find a cotton swab, make a mouth rinse with a spoonful of baking soda and a glass of warm water. Dissolve the baking soda then use it as a mouthwash.
  • Make a paste from pure vanilla extract and ground cloves and apply them on the painful area.
  • Try some mouthwash that has a lot of alcohol content and leave it in the painful side of your mouth for about 40 seconds, but after 40 seconds you need to spit it out. (Don’t swallow the liquor, because you may swallow some nasty stuff from an infected tooth.)
  • Use an ice pack with a facecloth and hold it over the cheek where the pain is. ( DO NOT use a hot compress, as this may help the germs breed inside your tooth and gums).