TIPS FOR RELIVING NIGHTTIME TOOTHACHE

21 October 2021

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Toothaches tend to worsen at night. However, you don't have to resign yourself to a sleepless night just because you have a toothache. Knowing why your toothache intensifies at night can help you mitigate the pain. Below are some tips to help you relieve nighttime toothache.

Elevate Your Head

Dental infections, such as gum disease, irritate, bruise, and inflame the surrounding soft tissues. Once that happens, blood pressure from the vessels around the tooth root and gums will affect the damaged tissues and cause pain. Relieving the pressure can reduce your pain.

One way of relieving the pressure is to sleep with your head elevated above the rest of your body. Elevating your head works by reducing blood flow, and also pressure, to the head. You can use a soft pillow for the elevation.

Avoid Aggravating Foods and Drinks

Some foods and drinks can worsen your toothache. Examples include:

  • Extremely cold or hot food that irritates your inflamed tissues
  • Acidic food that erodes your gums
  • Sugary food that feeds the bacteria in your mouth

Avoid such foods if your toothache begins before dinner and make sure to only eat tooth-friendly snacks at night.

Brush and Floss

Brushing and flossing might be uncomfortable with a toothache, but you shouldn't ignore your oral hygiene routines at this time. For one, food particles trapped in your teeth can aggravate the pain. Secondly, the effects of some of the acidic foods might worsen with time.

Brushing and flossing before going to bed will help you deal with both issues. Just be gentle about it, especially around the infected teeth.

Use a Cold Compress

Tissue inflammation is one of the causes of toothache. The inflamed tissues cause pain by pressing against nearby tissues. Thus, reducing inflammation may help reduce the pain.

Use a cold compress to reduce inflammation. A cold compress works by constricting the blood vessels and reducing the volume of blood flowing through them. You can do this by holding a bag of ice on the affected cheek (from the outside) for a few minutes. You may have to repeat the treatment a few times since the effect is temporary.

Use Natural Pain Remedies

Some people have had some success with natural remedies for toothache. Some of the natural remedies include:

  • Clove oil, which you soak in a cotton ball and place on the affected teeth
  • Peppermint, which you can use in the form of a used tea bag placed on the affected teeth
  • Garlic, which you crush, make into a paste, and apply to the affected teeth
  • Vanilla extract, which you can just rub with a finger over the affected teeth
  • Clove, which you can crush and use in a teabag or apply as a paste on the affected teeth

Just remember that natural remedies give mixed results and might not work for everyone.

Use Disinfectants

Rinsing your mouth with disinfectants can also help by reducing the level of bacteria in your mouth. Some disinfectants you can use include:

  • Warm saline rinse (a half a teaspoon of salt in a glass of warm water is adequate)
  • Mouthwash that contains alcohol
  • A mixture of one part hydrogen peroxide and one part water

Use whatever you have readily available since all will work.

Take an OTC Pain Medication

Lastly, you can also use any over-the-counter pain medication for your toothache. Many of the pain medications work by minimizing both pain and inflammation. Just ensure you stick to the correct dosage even if your pain is severe.

The tips above can give you temporary relief, but you need dental diagnosis and treatment for more permanent relief. Desert Dental can help you with all your dental problems.  Contact us  and benefit from our skills, experience, and professionalism to give you the relief you need.

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