The gums around my teeth, that have a cavity in them hurt very badly. I have taken Ibuprofen, Tylenol and nothing seems to touch the pain.
How can I relieve extreme tooth pain temporarily, until I can see a dentist?
Question posted by Jkoch1 on 29 March 2013
Last updated on 17 May 2023
The information on this page reflects personal experiences shared by our community members. It is not reviewed for medical accuracy and should not replace professional medical advice.
75 Answers Page 3
spocksbeard
12 April 2016
Unfortunately, it sounds like you have a tooth abcess, which no pain reliever can touch!! Your only hope other than extraction or root canal treatment is taking infection medicine. The exposed dying nerve will cause SEVERE pain until the nerve dies. the infection in the tooth is also putting pressure on the pulp in the tooth, causing added misery. Smokeless tobacco did my teeth in, and gum recession caused by dipping exposed the roots of the teeth leaving the teeth more susceptible to decay and infection.
Court710Arcarial
12 April 2016
Nothing works. Its agony. I have to go to an oral surgeon because my roots are so screwed up. Have to wait weeks for one of the free ones because I have no dental coverage..I have contemplated sticking a syringe in my gums with some kind of numbing medicine it gets so bad. I'm not, but you get the point. I really feel for everyone going through this. Pouring anbesol in your mouth and letting it set till it gets thick, on top of an ibueprofen regimen does help. Its just very temporary.
MaskRomen
30 Sep 2016
Hi! Take care!
NickHalp
2 Nov 2016
In UK we have a National Health Service, so you only pay a small amount for Prescription drugs ($10). We have to pay extra for Dentists but it's still better than US. You can choose to go "Private" but only if you wish to... For a Bigger range of services (fancy veneers, etc). We still think Dentists are ripping people off...
I'm going to have an extraction as molar giving me severe pain. Should cost me $35... (£25 approx). Toothache is horrible..
ocfuel
9 April 2016
ok ok nothing ive seen as far as answers here is right.
this is the #1 answer for sure .
go to right aid buy red cross tooth ache kit . it comes with cotton balls and a tweezers dip the cotton ball in the liquid and stuff it in the tooth hole and thats it. wait 1 min and your done . trust me this works
Anguskittie
9 April 2016
I had a severely broken back tooth and experience excruciating pain... I tried everything Tylenol ,ibuprofen, ice, warm salt water, Vicks rub ( which helped a little) and mouth rinse... nothing took it away so I could sleep. Then I remembered Alum it's a seasoning. Taste like a raw lemon and will make your mouth pucker and water but it totally works! Instantly! It will numb your mouth and take the pain away. Also works great for mouth sores... I would put it on the sores caused by my braces kept them from infection and healed them very quickly. Like I said tho it taste absolutely horrible but it's worth it and the taste does go away... just apply it liberally repeatedly as necessary.
Afueh
8 April 2016
My symptoms
I have a bottom right wisdom tooth that is about 1/3 decayed so it's very exposed to anything that enters my mouth. Meaning I have to be extra careful when I eat because it hurts like hell when anything comes in contact. When food gets into my tooth my gum starts to swell and I can't close my mouth all the way, along with throbbing pain that radiates into a migraine which then at night turns into tears cus I can only sleep for 30 minutes.
My interventions:
I've taken ibprufen, Tylenol, Advil, oral pain reliever, hot salt water, listerine, alcohol, and even tried getting stoned. None of those worked. Don't try getting stoned because it only made me focus more on the pain since the rest of my body was in high mode.
I use Dentek tooth filler to reduce any exposure to food/liquids. It prevented future pain as my tooth became less exposed to bacteria.
The only treatment that relieved IMMEDIATE root throbbing, neck, migraine, tear jerking, tooth pain, was Oregano Oil.
I cleaned the area by removing any tooth filler, brushing, and listerine rinse, then 2-3 drops of Oregano Oil. Swish around the Oregano along with your saliva build up for 30 secs and then rinsed with water. Then apply new tooth filler.
I hoped this helped as I just did this before posting this. I read other people saying Oregano Oil worked and for me it did.
Kristen031314
20 March 2016
Ok guys I have a really bad toothache ive tried numbin it with ice and took advil and ibprofine. Together I take 1200 mg every 6 hours. It's alot put pain won't go away. I even got drunk thinkin it would numb it so I could sleep but as soon as I layed down it just throbbed what can I do
Txman
12 April 2016
You probably shouldn't take that much drugs and then get drunk...
Monique live co2456
14 March 2016
My teeth hurts painful and I have holes and my two front teeth
tressah
20 March 2016
My teeth hurt also i have a tooth that has a hole in it and it will not stop hurting some things i use is mouthwash after i brush my teeth and let the mouthwash sit there for a little bit and like it burn the stuff out then i will rinse out my mouth with cold water then go and put tooth cream on it and it helps for a little bit also hope your tooth gets better and everyone elses tooth also its painful cant wait for my pain to go away
OUCHGOSHDANG
9 March 2016
I was a dental assistant until I left on maternity leave 10 years ago and never returned. I know shame on me for not taking better care of my own teeth. Currently, I have severe pain in my lower 1st bicuspid. As the infection spreads from the tooth to the socket your gums swell up with pus and it pushes the tooth up out of the socket just enough so that every time you bite it feels your upper tooth pushing it bsck down with what feels like its been smacked with a hammer. I usually begin antibiotics and it clears up and may come back a year later. At least thats been my luck since I cant afford to go to a dentist. So it's been ust over a year and its back once again. Iv'e been in pain for about 3 days, today being the worst and thanks to the members on this site I found something to work after trying it all. So I have began antibiotics once again and made an appt as I hae no choice but to have it pulled since I cant afford a root canal.
But in the mean time here is what i do every few hours when the severe pain begins. Pop about 800mg of Ibprofen every 4 hours, and I know its going to take about 30 very long minutes to atleast make me comfortable. So to ease the pain during that time period I put listerine on it and hold it there for about a minute. Then i put on oral gel and clove oil to help me get thru this next part... I pour some of the listerine in my water pik flosser tank and top off with slightly warm water. I direct the water flow down between the teeth and i also hit the swollen area along the gums as the water pressure seems to help. Then I let the area soak with peroxide, let it drain out and i change the water in my flosser with warm sea salt water. I then follow up again with more orajel. It worked most of the first 2 days, however today it wasnt even curbing the pain. I came across the tip on here about vicks vapor rub. So I put it on my face and within 2 mins my pain decreased a considerable amount! about 15 mins later, when the ibprofen kicks in, im down from a 10 to about a 2 on the pain scale. Vicks saved me tonight! Now come on Friday, Ive never been more excited to go to the dentist.
Simplelogic
9 March 2016
I'm so glad that it helped you! :-) When I discovered the tip online and tried it and tested it for myself, I immediately wanted to let you guys know... Because God knows I was in so much pain! The MAIN thing that really helped me was bathing the tooth/side the gum infection was located on with 3 percent hydrogen peroxide. Make sure that you repeatedly for I would say three times per day (q day) use the peroxide because it works much better than Listerine. After bathing that side of your mouth with the peroxide after rinsing it out then follow by gargling/bathing side of the mouth with Listerine. Also if possible try taking some Probiotics because the good bacteria in the probiotics will help to destroy the bad bacteria.
I bought some oral probiotic lozenges On Amazon that I was taking and I believe that helped as well, but rinsing with Peroxide 3 times daily really helped and then I would take some Motrin because it would start to hurt for a little bit but it was because the peroxide was working. Always keep the clove oil and Vicks vapor rub handy. If it's cold outside what I would do is I would grab a napkin or a piece of Kleenex/tissue and I would place it on the inside of my mouth and bite on it to cover up that area because the cold air can really intensify the pain... Oh I almost forgot or you can just get a few cotton balls and place them in your mouth:-) I hope this helps as well.
Persemax
22 June 2016
I read thru every answer so I wouldn't miss anything. You were the second out of 50 comments/questions/etc., to put peroxide as a remedy-at least part of your remedy! Anyway, after 2 days of severe pain and using every suggestion around,(except oregano oil), the only things that worked temporarily (like 2-3 mins) was swishing cool water around and repeating all day. Until I added the peroxide ... that finally took away the demon like, life consuming pain I was experiencing every 3 mins for the entire day! So thank you for keeping me from smashing my face into the sink and for helping me diagnose my condition... you described the pushing up of the tooth exactly. Going to dentist tomorrow-facial bones intact, due to your suggestion.
Rohill
4 March 2016
I had real bad tooth pain from a cavity right when I was getting ready to go to sleep. I knew I wouldn't get any sleep if I didn't do anything. I'm not big on pain pills so I searched my bathroom for relieve. That's when I found some sugar free chloraseptic cough drops. (The ones you use when your throat is sore) I placed the cough drop in the area and moved it around with my tongue. it instantly numbed the area and the pain was relieved! Hope this helps for temporary relieve.
Managingpain976
1 March 2016
Always works for me: clove oil on the tooth- drip some on a Qtip (GNC sells it $7). Two ibuprofen and 15 minutes lying on a heating pad to my jaw.
Tovarsk7
31 Jan 2016
I have been in extreme pain ..I have a really bad cavity ... waiting to go to dentist to get it resolved but what I did for the pain was .salt and pepper with a little bit of water. I put it on my finger and put all over tooth and gums where the pain is.and it helped ... also Excedrin helps. It worked for me hopefully works for yall.
waynefrench
31 Jan 2016
Goto emergency room.
It may be Infected and u can get anti-biotics and a mild analgesic
southern103196
30 Jan 2016
I have a severe tooth ache and not any meds are helping what do I do to get rid of it
zenism
27 Jan 2016
Base on my experience, 2 glasses of whiskey did the job for me.
jamielee29b
21 Feb 2016
With the pain I'm in, I hit 4 and could still feel it
Gee wiz
25 March 2016
I swear this works.
If the pain is SOS bad then the remedy is :
Take one paracetamol, brake in half and simply pack out the hole, bit down really hard, and I mean HARD for 10 sec
Gee wiz
25 March 2016
Gee Wizz here!!!
STILL NO PAIN!!!
ccrosie
26 Jan 2016
I had extremely bad dental pain this weekend. The pain became unbearable by 10 pm Friday night (of course). I was so desperate I thought I was going to have to go to the emergency room. So, I found this forum on my quest to relieve the pain. I tried every suggestion to no avail. And then, I thought about using alcohol as a last ditch effort. So, I soaked two cotton balls with whiskey & placed them under my cheek on the affected area. Within a few minutes, the pain subsided thank goodness! I did have to use the cotton ball treatment twice, but I was comfortable all weekend long! Now, I'll be setting up an appointment with my dentist to deal with the abcess. If you're desperate, try this. It worked for me.
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pain, toothache, tooth infection
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