Dangerous Dental Home Remedies

When you’re dealing with a severe toothache, you’re likely to try just about anything to make the pain go away. The longer the pain goes, the crazier home remedies you’re willing to try, especially if you haven’t been able to get much sleep in several days. When you have a toothache or other dental issue and can’t make it in to see a professional for help, though, there are some things you can do that will actually make it much worse. Here are some dangerous dental home remedies you need to avoid.

Don’t Use Superglue for Denture Repair

Did your dentures break? Don’t try to superglue them back together. There are several issues here. First and foremost, many superglues are toxic and should never be put in your mouth. Second, even if you do use a non-toxic glue, you’re still changing the shape of your dentures. They’re not going to fit right, and that’s going to cause irritation.

Pulling the Tooth Yourself

Some people decide to pull their tooth out rather than deal with the pain. While this may sound like an extreme solution, it’s more common than many people think. Unfortunately, this often doesn’t help. In fact, it only opens up the gums and the tooth socket to bacteria, leading to infection and even more pain. Never pull your tooth out. An extraction should only be done in the clean, safe environment of a dental office.

Don’t Use Headache Powder

There’s a popular remedy called Grandpa’s Headache Powder that many people have heard can cure a toothache if it’s rubbed on the gums rather than mixing the powder into water as instructed. This often leads to burns on the gums. In fact, there’s some evidence to suggest that Grandpa’s Headache Powder is addictive, so you may want to think twice about using it as a pain reliever.

Drinking Alcohol

Some people do rub a little bit of alcohol on the site of the pain and find some relief. Others take this a little too far by getting drunk when they have a severe toothache. While that might help them sleep, it certainly isn’t the right solution.

Dealing with tooth pain can be horrible, especially late at night or over the weekend. But in the end, there’s only one way to safely deal with it – contact James R. Anderson, DDS. We will examine the site of your pain and find a solution that is both safe and leaves you pain-free.