Hi, I’m Dr. Brett Langston. I’m a prosthodontist and the owner of Dental Implant and Aesthetic Specialists here in Brookhaven, Georgia, and I’m here to help you watch your mouth.
Tooth Pain at the Worst Time
So today’s topic is what do I do when I’ve got tooth pain? It’s Friday night, five o’clock, getting ready to go out to dinner, got family over. I can’t get ahold of my dentist. There’s nobody to see me. How can I get through the weekend until someone can take care of me on Monday? Great question. It happens a lot. I’m going to walk you through some of the causes of that pain, some short-term treatments and things you could do to kind of get through, and then also what we would do long-term to help you out when we do finally get you in first thing Monday morning.
When to Worry About Tooth Pain
So while it’s not uncommon to have pain or discomfort in the mouth every once in a while, what concerns us is tooth pain that lingers, sticks around for a while is very intense, or won’t go away.
Those are kind of your big signs that something is going wrong, something underlying and you need to let us take a look at it.
Types of Tooth Pain
There are different levels of dental pain, from a dull ache and soreness to intense zinging or sharp shooting pain when you drink something cold or if you have something hot.
There’s also a dull throbbing pain when you chew on something and it just doesn’t feel right; something feels a little bit off.
These are all the different things that happen, and they go away, and you don’t feel ’em again. That was probably just chalked up to the mouth being weird and being the mouth, but if they linger and they happen a lot, it’s definitely some kind of underlying condition, and you need to see us.
So whether it’s bleeding gums, whether it’s painful to chew, whether it’s intensity to hot and cold or sweets, these are all things that you need to have us take a look at and make sure everything is okay.
Short-Term Home Care Tips
Avoid Irritating the Tooth
The number one thing is to stop bothering the tooth.
So, if it’s sensitive to hot and cold, don’t eat anything hot or cold. If it’s sensitive to chewing, don’t chew on that side.
I know that sounds like common sense, but a lot of times, people will always want to test and feel if it’s better, and anytime you go in there and poke or touch, especially if there’s an underlying problem, you’re not allowing the tooth to calm down.
Use Over-the-Counter Pain Relief
One of the things I would also recommend is some kind of over the counter pain relief, whether that’s Tylenol or Advil or even Aleve does a really good job with dental pain. Everyone kind of knows their own body and knows which one works best for them.
A lot of times if there’s swelling in the tooth, whether it’s from a bite or some kind of trauma or something going on, whether they’re swelling the tooth from an incorrect bite or chewing on something too hard, those pain relievers do a really good job of reducing the swelling and allowing everything to kind of calm down.
Try Saltwater or Hydrogen Peroxide Rinses
The next thing I would recommend is either a warm saltwater rinse or a hydrogen peroxide rinse, and these kind of serve two purposes.
Number one, if you do have something going on with the gum tissue where it’s an abrasion or a laceration or even something’s kind of lodged in there, the salt water, the hydrogen peroxide mix is going to kind of calm that area down, help the initial healing and kind of get you started feeling better, but also that aggressive kind of swishing and moving of that liquid around might dislodge if there’s a small particle, if there’s something causing that damage or irritation.
Cold Compress for Muscle or Joint Pain
The third thing I recommend is cold compresses, especially if this is maybe a muscular thing or a joint thing. A lot of times the addition of some kind of pain reliever and a cold compress is going to really allow that area to calm down and take away the intensity and any swelling in the area as well.
Tea Bag for Bleeding Extraction Sites
If you’re having pain or soreness or bleeding from an extraction site, especially if it’s a recent extraction site, a common home remedy that I like to tell patients is to bite on a teabag. So what’s going to happen with the tea bag?
It kind of serves two purposes. Number one, it’s going to stop the bleeding, but also it puts pressure on that area and provides that clotting factor to start happening, so you’re not going to be actively bleeding and oozing for a long time.
When it comes to putting a tea bag in there, just take it right from the box. You might have to fold it over. You might have to put two in there together and put it in between the extraction site and the opposing arch and bite and hold a decent amount of pressure on there, and that’s going to absorb the extra fluid and it’s also going to stop the bleeding, and depending on the flavor, you might also get a nice taste out of it.
Topical Numbing Options
Another option that you have available at your disposal is amol or some other topical anesthetic if it’s a minor tooth irritation or a minor laceration in the gum tissue.
Also, clove oil is a home remedy that actually does a really good job with kind of sedating the tooth and calming things down until we can get in and take a look and diagnose what’s really happening.
What Happens When You See Us Monday
Emergency Care First Thing Monday
Our office is always available and ready to take care of you.
Every Monday. We dedicate time to taking care of emergencies and dental trauma over the weekend.
This allows us to get you in radiograph the area, do an examination and kind of see what’s going on.
What We Look For
So whether it’s a trauma to the tooth from biting on something and the tooth is cracked, whether it’s just biting on something and the tooth is sore, because teeth not only have a nerve on the inside which causes hot and cold sensitivity, they also have a nerve that kind of goes around the roots and I call ’em shock absorbers.
And so you can damage those shock absorbers. So if you bite something or bite kind of in an off pattern, you can irritate the socket of the tooth and then it swells up and then at that point it’s hypersensitive to touch. So anytime you’re touching it or chewing or biting, it can take a while for that to calm down.
Solutions We Provide
These are all things that we do when we see you on an emergency basis to help diagnose and figure out exactly what’s going on.
Hopefully, it’s one of those smaller things where it’s just a small chip or it’s just the tooth got irritated and it’s not happy.
So if it’s something bigger like a fractured tooth or a broken filling or decay that was not diagnosed before, this kind of undermining the health of the tooth, these are all things that we can see and figure out a path to get that tooth back to health.
When to Call Us Immediately
Signs of Serious Problems
The take-home message is if any of the following happens, definitely give us a call and let come see us. First thing:
- Swelling
- Any signs of infection
- Intense pain that doesn’t go away
- Dull, throbbing, aching pain that doesn’t go away
- Bleeding, oozing
- Starting to develop a fever
- Any kind of bad taste
- A general feeling in your mouth that something’s wrong
Early Intervention is Key
It may seem like it’s a waste of time, but I would much prefer you come in, see us, let us look at everything, and let you know that it’s okay, as opposed to just letting it go and build.
Unfortunately, over time, dental problems tend to get worse and cause bigger problems and have to have a bigger solution.
I would hate to have a patient come in and say, yeah, this tooth has been bothering me for three months, and I’m like, oh my goodness.
Had you come in two and a half months ago and we caught it early, it’d be a small filling or it’d be a real quick repair, and now we’re to the point where we have to do something a lot more involved. Whether that’s time or expenses or discomfort to you to get that mouth back to healthy again.
Final Thoughts
If you’re in pain or if you have a friend who’s in dental pain, tag them. Send us along, call us, and reach out to us. We’ll get you in as soon as possible. We’ll take care of that.
I’m Dr. Brett Langston. I’m here to help you watch your mouth.
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