YOUR EMERGENCY GUIDE FOR TOOTHACHE

It’s 3 a.m. and you’ve had 3 Crocins but your heads still blasting and your cheek feels like it’s going to blow up! Nothing seems to control this severe throbbing, mind numbing pain. How many of us have found ourselves in this situation where we are stranded without help and wish we had not ignored that nagging toothache? If you don’t want to live with the looming fear of a tooth ache, the best prevention is a dental visit, but for the weak-hearted there is always hope. Dental pain or Toothaches can arise without reason and cripple you at any point whether in the middle of the night, in a different country, in transit or in a position where dental care is not accessible immediately. So here are a few quick tips to ensure that you keep that dental pain away! Take down your list of dental must haves for those bad Toothaches:

• Pain medication – The first thing that will strike you when your teeth are aching is to pop in a pain killer, although its important to use one which is more specific to teeth. While Paracetamol is the popular drug of choice we recommend you stock up on Diclofenac derivatives more targeted to toothache, ensuring that there’s no allergy for this medication is something that must be done.

• Clove oil – An effective home remedy take a ear bud dipped in clove oil to ease off the pain on any open cavity where the nerve is exposed.It also works very well on those stubborn wisdom teeth.

• Ice pack – In case of trauma to the teeth, lips or face or if a swelling or bleed is seen placing an ice pack on your cheek is something that will not only ease off the pain but will also reduce the swelling.

• Salt rinses- If all else fails and all you have is a bit of salt then just put it in a glass of luke warm water and gargle with it to allay active gum infections.

• Gumex gum paint – A common astringent paint is a harmless alternative to reduce bleeding on gums after which a dental clean up can be instituted.

• Dental Floss – Tooth ache is often triggered by the lodging of food in open cavities between teeth. To stop this immediate trigger use a dental floss and remove the particle for instant relief.

• Sensitivity tooth pastes – Acute sensitivity to extremes of temperature can be reduced temporarily by scrubbing in sensitive tooth paste and leaving it on the tooth for a few minutes rather than brushing and rinsing immediately.

Needless to say a Dental check up every 6 months is the best method of preventing an emergency and to curb the problem in its nascent stages. My advise would be don’t ignore your teething troubles but if you do then we are still there for you, making sure you have what you need when you have those unexpected aches!