|
2torial
#0511:
Learn2
Remedy a
Toothache
Teeth torment, be gone!
Scottish poet Robert Burns once stayed up all
night with a toothache and wrote a famous poem
graphically describing his experience--he lived in
a time without modern painkillers. If you've ever
suffered a toothache, you know it can invade and
disrupt every waking moment--perhaps every living
moment--of your life, since you never sleep well
with a severe toothache. Lucky for you, this
2torial will help ease the pain until you can see
your dentist (assuming you're an adult--this isn't
a 2torial about dealing with teething toddlers.
That's another story.)
Most toothaches are caused by either a cavity
(tooth decay) or an infection under the tooth or
next to the tooth in the gums. In any of these
cases, you should be extra careful if your symptoms
include fever; red, swollen, or bleeding gums;
unusually bad breath despite thorough brushing and
flossing; constant toothaches; or toothaches during
or just after eating. If you have any of these
symptoms, you should make an appointment with a
dentist immediately.
Emergency care: In the rare case that a
toothache is accompanied by pain in the lower jaw,
neck, chest (in collarbone region) or upper arm,
then seek emergency care immediately. Heart attacks
and angina reduce oxygen supplies to the mouth, and
this can manifest as a toothache. These may not be
what you're suffering from, but it's better to err
on the side of safety and be examined by a
healthcare professional.
More and more dentists are turning to
homeopathic therapies for two major reasons: the
remedies' success in accelerating the healing
process and their lack of synthetic chemical
compounds (and concurrent harmful side effects).
You need to be careful, though, when dealing with
homeopathic remedies. Since you can purchase these
remedies without a prescription, you might have the
temptation to diagnose and treat yourself without
proper training. Although you're in no danger of
poisoning yourself with homeopathic remedies, they
won't work if you've misinterpreted your symptoms.
The key to effective homeopathic treatment is very
specific diagnosis, and that's where professional
homeopathic practitioners (or at least careful home
study) come into the picture.
But here's the bottom line: all the remedies
presented here aren't meant to replace proper
dental care. A cavity is still a cavity and will
need to be filled at some point. These remedies
offer relief in the meantime and may prevent the
condition from worsening. Even if one of the
remedies works very well for you, it's still a good
idea to consult a dentist about a toothache.
Ignored pains can sometimes resurface as more
painful ailments that are more expensive to
treat.
 Step
1
|
