Ask the Herbalist: Natural Remedies for Toothache

Q: HELP! I cracked one of my back teeth, and I am in a lot of pain. My dentist can’t see me until Monday morning. Are there any herbs or natural remedies for toothache I can use until then to ease the pain?

A: That has to be one of the most miserable experiences! I’ve been there more than once. Fortunately, there are several herbal toothache remedies you can use to ease the pain until you can get to the dentist.

There are a few steps you can take for overall tooth and mouth health.

These include cutting out sugar, drinking bone broth (bone broth has tons of benefits for the whole family), and trying a remineralizing toothpaste.

Essential Oils to Help Relieve Toothache Pain

Place five drops of copaiba essential oil on a piece of gauze and put it over the tooth and gums. Replace it every few hours as needed. You can do this for a couple of days to reduce any swelling.

Apply oregano essential oil, Thieves essential oil, and Panaway essential oil blend, mixed with a good carrier oil, on the jawline for pain and to aid in fighting off infection.

You can rinse your mouth with a mixture of organic tea tree oil, warm water and sea salt.

Mix a drop of clove essential oil and a drop of coconut oil and place it on the tooth. NOTE: Don’t use clove oil if you’re pregnant, nursing, have diabetes, kidney or liver disease or if you have a bleeding disorder.

Herbs to Help Treat Toothache

Apply fresh yarrow leaves or root to the tooth. Make sure they have been washed thoroughly. Yarrow helps to stop bleeding, aids in healing wounds, and is a natural anesthetic.

Place a drop or two of organic Echinacea tincture on the site every 4 to 6 hours as needed.

Cut a slice of raw onion and place it on the area or you can dice up the onion, put it in a thin cloth and hold it on the outside of the cheek against the area where the affected tooth is.

Cut off a piece of fresh ginger root, peel it, and place it directly on the painful tooth. Bite down if you can, and leave it on there for 10 minutes.

Make a blend of 2 teaspoons of dried sage, crushed and placed in a shot glass, add 1 teaspoon of sea salt, and fill the remainder of the glass with vodka or rum. Let it sit for about 5 minutes. Take a sip, chew on it, hold it over the affected tooth, and then spit it out. Repeat this until it’s all gone.

Chew some fresh plantain leaves, mix in some sea salt, and place the mixture over the painful tooth.

If you have cloves in your spice cabinet, crush and chew on them and leave them on your painful tooth for about 30 minutes.

Place a clove of garlic on the tooth.

With these and all herbs, make sure you get them from a trusted source that sells only organically grown herbs. Always consult your doctor, naturopath, or herbalist before using herbal remedies if you have any medical conditions, especially those that affect how your body metabolizes medications.