Treating toothaches naturally is something that everybody should learn. Let’s face it; when you wake up at the witching hour with a tooth so throbbing and painful that you can barely get out of bed, the last thing you want to do is try to find an open drug store AND choose from the many medicinal remedies. Would it not be better to treat that toothache immediately, with things you can find in your own home? Another reason to treat toothaches naturally is that over the counter drugs don’t always work, nor do all medicines treat all forms of toothaches.
There is a wonderful scene written by the amazingly talented William Goldman in the best thriller ever written, Marathon Man, in which Babe Levy (the guy Dustin Hoffman plays in the movie) has a toothache. If you have ever seen the “Is it safe” scene from the movie, you will understand that Babe’s toothache is not your run of the mill toothache. At any rate, the owner of the drug store (this was back when drug stores were actually owned by the people who worked in them and not faceless conglomerates who give you’re the wrong prescription and then treat you like it’s your fault) sounds like W.C. Fields and is telling Babe about the stupendous curative effects of oil of cloves. Well, William Goldman did not just pull this idea out of thin air. Oil of cloves, easily found in any real drug store, is probably going to work better and faster at curing your headache than any OTC medication. The one caution about treating toothaches naturally with oil of cloves is that you want to be very careful when using it because it can burn if you get it on your gum.
An easier method for treating a toothache naturally is to wrap some ice cubes into a handkerchief or even a paper towel, and simply hold it up against your cheeks. There is a caveat to this natural remedy for toothaches: if the ice begins to make the toothache pain worse than it was before, then for gosh sakes stop doing it! The old ice cubes in a handkerchief method of treating a toothache usually works best in cases where pain is not overwhelming, but even if you have a debilitating case, it may be worth trying.
How many people have a nearly full bottle of vanilla extract up in their pantry? The next time you have a toothache, reach up there for that bottle and stick a cotton swab into it and stick it in your ear. Just kidding: gently swab the cotton around the area of the painful tooth. Yes, pure vanilla extra is not going to taste as good as it smells, and it probably will burn a little at first, but you may be pleasantly surprised when you find the pain begins to lessen within a half hour.
Remember how your mother was constantly on you about eating vegetables? It is to be hoped that you listened to her and there are currently a selection of vegetables to be found inside your refrigerator. And at least one fruit. Onions have some kind of chemical thingy in their genetic construction that kills bacteria. Perhaps it is due to the strong odor; eating onions won’t only keep bacteria away, but friends and family. Don’t let that stop you, Jack! Eat a raw onion at the first sign of a toothache. That fruit I was talking about is the supremely underappreciated lime. It is a shame that most people only come into contact with limes when they are too drunk to appreciate what an astounding little fruit it really is. Some believe that it is the high content of Vitamin C in the lime that naturally relieves the pain of a toothache. I think it is because the lime is supernatural. And finally, grab that cucumber from your vegetable crisper and cut into a thin enough slice that you can place it inside your mouth and maintain against the sore tooth.
