How bad is it?: Toothache pain can be one of the most severe pains a person can experience. The pain may be so severe that you can’t tolerate it. In that case, you should go to a hospital 24 hr. emergency room for treatment or pain medication. If the pain is tolerable, then should you still go to an emergency room? If you have swelling that extends into the neck area (below the border of the jaw) or if you have a fever associated with the toothache, you should seek immediate treatment at a 24 hr. Emergency Room.  Dental infections can be LIFE THREATENING!

What to do: First try to determine if the pain is a "gum pain" or a "tooth pain". Gum infections respond well to rinsing the area with warm salt water. Usually what has happened is that some food has gotten lodged in the crevice between the tooth and gum around a wisdom tooth or around a tooth that has been damaged by gum disease. Rinsing the area flushes the food fragments out of the deep crevice around the tooth and allows the infection to drain.

If the pain seems to be a "tooth" pain, then look to see of you can see a hole in the tooth. If there is a hole in the tooth, then get some toothache medicine from a 24 hr. drug store. Toothache medicine is usually just oil of cloves (a yellow liquid) in a bottle. Take a small piece of cotton and roll it into a small ball. Dip the cotton pellet into the oil of cloves, and then using a pair of tweezers, try to poke the cotton pellet into the hole in your tooth.  This should give quick relief.

Medication to take: (always follow package directions) Don’t underestimate the old stand-bys Aspirin and Tylenol - they can really help. If these are not strong enough, a more powerful "over the counter" pain medication is Ibuprofin (brand names are Advil, Nuprin, & Motrin). Don’t use Ibuprofin if you have a history of ulcers, stomach problems, or a history of sensitivity to Ibuprofin. An effective adult dose is 400 to 800 mg. which is 2 to 4 of the 200 mg. tablets.