How can you cure a toothache?

[Pierre]

Hello

I have had toothache all day today and most of last night, I could not sleep last night and now I have severe pain shooting starting in my top jaw and shooting up into my head.

I have tried paracetamol and ibuprofen and cocodomol and non of it seems to be able to stop this toothache. Is there anything that I haven't tried that could cure toothache?

I am scared of the dentist, so please don't mention seeing a dentist because I would need to be put to sleep before a dentist could do any dentistry on my teeth. According to the hospital, being put to sleep is not possible for another six months at least, so in the mean time I am looking for a cure for toothache. Any thoughts?

[Dr Vahid Motahar]

Hi,

Thank you for your question.

It seems you have tried every possible painkiller to cure your toothache. If you have a throbbing pain that is long lasting and usually increases in at night,then very likely you have irreversible pulpitis. This pain can be very severe and if I want to be very frank painkillers and antibiotics have limited or no effect once this pain starts. I know you have asked me not to mention visiting a dentist but in real terms you may have no choice because the only way to get rid if the pulpitis pain is by extirpation which means direct treatment of the tooth.

So you may not have much choice but to see a dentist. But the correct way of managing this pain, if you are a nervous patient to the degree that avoid seeing dentist, then you may need treatment under intravenous sedation and correctly treat the tooth under sedation rather than keep pumping a lot of painkillers into yourself. This is just an easy solution that really wont work.