The fastest way to relieve a toothache at home is to take ibuprofen and acetaminophen together, rinse with warm salt water, and apply a cold compress to the outside of your cheek. These steps can significantly reduce pain within 20 to 30 minutes while you arrange to see a dentist. But what you do next depends on the type of pain you’re experiencing and how severe it is.
Pain Relief That Works Fastest
Combining ibuprofen and acetaminophen is more effective for dental pain than either one alone. Ibuprofen reduces inflammation at the source while acetaminophen works on pain signals in the brain, so they tackle the problem from two directions. You can take them at the same time safely. A combination tablet contains 125 mg of ibuprofen and 250 mg of acetaminophen, taken as two tablets every eight hours, with a maximum of six tablets per day. If you’re using separate bottles, standard over-the-counter doses of each are fine to take together.
Don’t place aspirin or any crushed painkiller directly against your gums. This is a common home remedy that actually burns the gum tissue and makes things worse.
Salt Water Rinse and Cold Compress
Mix one teaspoon of salt into eight ounces of warm water and swish it around the painful area for 30 seconds before spitting. Salt water gently pulls bacteria away from infected tissue, reduces inflammation, and promotes tissue repair. You can repeat this several times a day, especially after eating.
A cold compress on the outside of your cheek, held for 15 to 20 minutes, constricts blood vessels around the painful area and numbs the sensation. This is particularly helpful right before bed. Alternate 15 minutes on, 15 minutes off. Don’t place ice directly on the tooth or gum.
Clove Oil as a Topical Numbing Agent
Clove oil contains a natural compound that works as a mild anesthetic and has been used for dental pain for centuries. To use it safely, dilute a few drops into a carrier oil like coconut or olive oil, then dip a cotton swab into the mixture and apply it directly to the gum at the point of pain. Let it sit briefly, then rinse your mouth out. Don’t swallow the mixture.
A word of caution: clove oil is safe for occasional use, but repeated or frequent application can irritate or damage your gums, tooth pulp, and other soft tissue inside the mouth. It’s toxic to human cells in concentrated amounts, and high levels can harm the liver and kidneys if swallowed. Use it sparingly as a bridge to professional care, not as an ongoing treatment.
Why Toothaches Get Worse at Night
If your toothache throbs more intensely when you lie down, that’s not your imagination. Lying flat increases blood flow to your head, which amplifies pain and inflammation around an infected or irritated tooth. To counter this, prop yourself up with two or more pillows so gravity helps reduce blood pooling around the aching area. Sleep on the side opposite the painful tooth and avoid pressing your face into the pillow.
A few other things help at night: avoid very hot, cold, sweet, or acidic foods and drinks in the hours before bed, since these can trigger sharp pain in an exposed or damaged tooth. Brush and floss carefully to remove any food particles lodged near the painful spot. Keeping your mouth hydrated matters too, because dry mouth can worsen the ache.
What Your Pain Is Telling You
The type of pain you feel offers real clues about what’s happening inside the tooth. A sharp, quick sting when you eat something cold or sweet that fades within a few seconds usually means the inner tissue of your tooth is inflamed but still recoverable. Your dentist can often treat this with a filling or by addressing the irritant, and the tooth heals on its own.
If sensitivity to heat, cold, or sweets lingers for more than a few seconds, or if the pain is a deep, persistent throb, the inflammation has likely progressed to a point where the tooth can’t repair itself. This type of pain often wakes people up at night and doesn’t respond well to over-the-counter medication alone. It typically means you’ll need a root canal or extraction.
Constant, severe pain combined with swelling in your face or jaw, fever, swollen lymph nodes, or pain when opening your mouth signals an infection that may be spreading. This needs urgent dental care, not just pain management at home.
When It’s a True Emergency
Most toothaches need a dentist within a day or two, but certain symptoms require faster action. See an emergency dentist if you have uncontrollable bleeding, a knocked-out permanent tooth, a severe break that exposes the nerve, or pain so intense it prevents you from sleeping, eating, or functioning.
Go to an emergency room if you have severe facial or jaw trauma, or if swelling is making it difficult to breathe or swallow. Swelling that spreads to the floor of the mouth or down the neck can obstruct your airway and requires immediate medical intervention.
Temporary Fixes Until Your Appointment
If you’ve lost a filling or broken a tooth and the cavity is exposed, over-the-counter temporary filling kits can protect the area for one to four weeks. Clean the tooth thoroughly first, then roll a small piece of the filling material into a ball, press it into the cavity, and use a wet cotton swab to spread it against the walls of the tooth. Bite down and move your jaw side to side to check the fit, removing excess material if it feels too high. The material takes about two hours to fully set, so avoid eating on that side during that time.
This is a stopgap, not a solution. Temporary fillings break down and can trap bacteria if left too long.
What Professional Treatment Looks Like
The treatment your dentist recommends depends on the diagnosis. A simple cavity gets a filling, which costs around $139 for a silver amalgam filling or $226 for a tooth-colored composite filling on average. If the inner tissue of the tooth is badly inflamed or infected, a root canal removes the damaged tissue and seals the tooth. Root canal therapy has a success rate of up to 97%, and when performed by a specialist, that figure reaches 98.1%. A restored root canal tooth and a dental implant have nearly identical long-term success rates (94% and 95% respectively), so saving the tooth is almost always worth attempting when possible.
A simple extraction averages about $177 and is typically reserved for teeth that can’t be saved. If you go the extraction route, your dentist will discuss replacement options to prevent the surrounding teeth from shifting over time.
Toothache Relief for Children
Children’s toothaches follow the same basic playbook: pain relievers, salt water rinses, cold compresses, and a dental appointment. But there are important safety differences. Never give aspirin to children for any reason due to the risk of a serious condition called Reye’s syndrome. And for children under two, avoid any product containing benzocaine, the numbing agent found in many teething gels like Anbesol and Orajel. Benzocaine has been linked to a rare but potentially fatal condition that reduces the blood’s ability to carry oxygen. Even for older children and adults, benzocaine should be used sparingly and never in amounts exceeding the label instructions.