12 Natural Home Remedies for Toothache​ – Guaranteed to Work

Is there anything possibly worse than toothache? A gnawing sensation emanating from the mouth and jaw region that doesn’t seem to go away, causing headaches, tension and general pain. Toothache can be caused by a multitude of different reasons, from minor problems like slight tooth decay to more serious issues such as a tooth abscess. A small inflamed or infected area within your mouth can result in severe discomfort in other areas, including the neck, head and ears. Extending beyond the problem, toothache causes irritation, affects your mood, and can even hinder your sleep, resulting in your body feeling overly stressed. 

To get to the root of the cause, we’re focusing on natural and plant-based alternatives, most of which are readily available at your local supermarket and are super affordable.  

Turning to natural alternatives is popular in South Africa. As a nation, our population show a keen interest in natural health and wellness across various cultures. Between 60% to 80% of South Africans turn to traditional medicine, ranging from African Traditional Medicine (ATM) to Ayurveda, Homoeopathy, TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) and more. [pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov] Reasons for this include cultural and personal beliefs, holistic practices or alternatives to saving money. For South Africans, a trip to the dentist can be costly. Perhaps your schedule is so busy that it’s impossible to get to the dentist right away. Or maybe you just have a phobia of the dentist and avoid a visit at all costs? 

Many use home remedies for toothache to avoid taking over-the-counter pain meds. 

Some causes of toothache include decaying teeth, an abscess, a chipped/broken tooth, a damaged filling, clenching or grinding your jaw during the night, smoking, gum disease or an infected gum. 

The Best 15 Natural Home Remedies for Toothache

If you’re suffering from dental woes and searching for home remedies for toothache, here is how to stop tooth pain fast without a trip to the dentist. 

1. Clove 

Cloves are an age-old toothache remedy, used for hundreds of years. Containing antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and anaesthetic properties (thanks to its active ingredient found in cloves, eugenol), cloves help to alleviate and numb tooth pain. Cloves are favoured for their fast relief, and you’ll notice the pain start to dissipate within 10 minutes. 

How to use? 

• Either place a whole clove directly on the infected/sore area and keep it in place. As the clove softens, bite on it a little. This releases its oils, which your mouth/saliva then absorbs. 
• A second option is to use clove oil. Add a few droplets to cotton wool and then lodge the cotton wool into your mouth, storing it at the infected/sore site.  

2. Saltwater Rinse

After major dental procedures, dentists often recommend rinsing with salt water. It’s one of the most convenient (and effective) home remedies for toothache as 99% of homes stock salt in their cupboards. It has many benefits! These include helping with bleeding gums, aiding with inflammation and maintaining a healthy, balanced pH level in your mouth. A saltwater rinse is a disinfectant and assists with cleaning plaque and debris, as well as halting infection and bacteria from multiplying. 

How to ease toothache with a saltwater rinse? 

Add half a teaspoon of refined salt into a quarter glass of warm water. Allow to dissolve. Swoosh it around in your mouth, targeting the painful or infected area. Spit it out afterwards, don’t swallow. 

3. Thyme 

Hailing from the mint family, Lamiaceae, for aeons, thyme has been used in medicine. Its herbal aroma makes it an appealing toothache remedy. Containing the antioxidant compound thymol, this delivers an anti-inflammatory effect, as well as being an antiseptic, helping to destroy bacteria and fungi.  

How to use? 

• Add a few droplets of thyme essential oil to a glass of water and thoroughly stir. Use as a mouthwash. 
• A second option is to add less water to the thyme essential oil mix, then dab a cotton bud or wool with the mix and apply it directly to the toothache. 

4. Tea Bag Compress

If you don’t keep many herbs or essential oils around, there’s a solid chance you will at least have a teabag at home or work. A tea bag compress is excellent for reducing inflammation or pain, and can be used hot or cold. You can use a black tea bag, however, certain herbal and floral tea bags work best as home remedies for toothache​​. 

These include peppermint tea containing menthol, which is a natural pain reliever and helps to numb the pain. It also contains anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. A second alternative is chamomile tea, which is really great for inflammation! Above this, the flower is renowned for boosting sleep, helping the body to relax and relieving stress. 

How to use? 

Steep the tea bag in boiling water. To use as a warm compress, let the tea bag cool down a little, but don’t let it get cold. Apply it directly to the sore tooth for 20 to 30 minutes, but don’t chew down on it. A cold tea bag compress is excellent for reducing swelling. After steeping, let it get really cold in the freezer. Then apply externally to the swollen area. 

5. Home remedies for toothache using Fresh Ginger

Famous for its anti-nausea abilities, fresh ginger is packed with antibacterial properties. Containing gingerol, this works as a natural anti-inflammatory. It’s fantastic for fighting off infection. Not only this, but ginger helps to manage a buildup of bacteria and plaque, which both contribute to gum disease. This deems it one of the wonderful home remedies for toothache and swollen gums. 

How to use?

Cut up a small piece of fresh ginger and apply it to the sore tooth or gum area. Chew on the ginger gently for a couple of minutes to release its juices. Instead of using fresh ginger, use ginger powder with water to make a paste. Add to a cotton bud or piece of cotton wool and then apply to the infected area in your mouth.  

6. Vanilla Extract

Important to note, when using vanilla as one of the home remedies for toothache, you need vanilla extract, not just the vanilla pod, as the extract contains alcohol, a known pain-numbing substance. Similar to cloves, vanilla in its natural form contains traces of eugenol, helping to relieve toothache with its anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties, as well as acting as an anaesthetic. The vanillin compound found in vanilla is also an anti-inflammatory. 

How to use?

Add drops of vanilla extract to a piece of cotton wool or bud and apply directly to the affected/painful area.  

7. Turmeric

Curcumin is what helps when making home remedies for toothache turmeric. It’s a powerful compound when it comes to bringing down swelling, and it also contains antimicrobial properties, which stop bacteria from manifesting. For gum disease like gingivitis or the more serious periodontitis, turmeric is one of the best home remedies for toothache and swollen gums. 

How to use?

It’s most effective when you use turmeric powder to make a paste. Add a little bit of water, then apply to the painful area. Rinse after a while with warm water so you don’t stain your teeth. 

8. Garlic

Garlic is highly praised in certain traditional medicines like Ayurvedic medicine, especially when it comes to helping to alleviate pain the natural way! It’s great for numbing pain, so the bulb ingredient works really well as a toothache remedy. Apart from being a pain-reliever, it contains antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, and is packed with antioxidants!  

How to use? 

• There are numerous ways to use garlic as a toothache remedy. Make a paste by crushing or grating a garlic clove and apply to the pain source.
• Take the whole clove and then chew it in the place where the pain is emanating. 
• Make a paste from garlic powder with a little bit of water and apply it to the toothache. 

9. Guava leaves

The quercetin in guava is what lends it fantastic for anti-inflammatory work. Found in the fruit and leaves, it has more of a higher concentration of quercetin in the leaves. The fruit leaves are also known for being antimicrobial, and it’s believed to be one of the effective home remedies for toothache due to cavity pain, and helps to prevent cavities from developing. Its analgesic properties help alleviate tooth pain. 

How to use? 

• Chew on fresh guava leaves. 
• Crush the leaves, add to boiling water, allow to cool and then utilise as a mouthwash. 

10. Wheatgrass

Did you know that wheatgrass contains chlorophyll, which helps battle off bacteria? Wheatgrass is packed with this green pigment, deeming the green shoot plant excellent for protecting your mouth from further development of infection or bacteria. It can also work as an anti-inflammatory. 

How to use? 

• Use wheatgrass juice as a mouthwash. 
• Chew on the raw grass around the painful area.  

11. Hydrogen Peroxide Rinse

How to stop tooth pain fast? Hydrogen peroxide is one alternative, although the chemical should be treated with care and caution when using it for home remedies for toothache. It is, in fact, a bleaching agent. It seriously helps with pain relief and quickly, and also kills off bacteria instantly, especially the type that causes gum disease. 

How to use hydrogen peroxide in home remedies for toothache​​?

Ensuring you use an exact ratio for creating a hydrogen peroxide rinse is imperative! Using 3% pharmaceutical-grade hydrogen peroxide, dilute one part peroxide with two parts water. Rinse your mouth for 30 seconds only, and then follow up with a second rinse of warm water afterwards. NEVER swallow hydrogen peroxide, and don’t overuse it for an extended period of time. 

12. Toothache plant

The native South American Spilanthes acmella or Acmella oleracea is commonly referred to as ‘toothache plant,’ and it is available in South Africa. Containing the anti-inflammatory compound, spilanthol, this helps reduce swelling caused by toothache. It can also numb pain. 

Important to know: avoid this plant if you’re pregnant, have cancer or are allergic to plants in the daisy family. Don’t mix with alcohol, either. 

How to use? 

Chew down on a leaf or flower bud of the toothache plant in the painful area, releasing the spilanthol. 

How to prevent a toothache?

We’ve discussed 12 ways how to cure toothache, but how do you avoid it getting to that stage? There are numerous ways to maintain good oral hygiene, starting with the obvious: brushing your teeth twice a day in circular motions at the front and back of your teeth and flossing. (Avoid over-brushing your teeth, too.) 

What are the top-rated dental care brands offering toothache relief products available locally? Invest in a good toothpaste, like Elmex or Sensodyne for those with extra sensitive teeth and gums, or a powerful medicinal mouthwash such as PerioPlus for general mouth hygiene, gum disease, or post-surgery procedures like wisdom teeth removal. Limit your amount of acidic-heavy foods and drinks, as well as sugar intake, especially with fizzy drinks! Regular dentist check-ups are also important. 

What Causes a Cavity?

When tooth decay happens, a cavity forms, a tiny hole or opening in your tooth. It can be one of the most excruciating pains, and is one of the most common causes of toothache. While there are home remedies for toothache due to cavity, it’s best to try and avoid a cavity from forming. 

What causes a cavity? Be aware of poor oral hygiene and diet. Several contributing factors include excessive sugar, starch-rich foods leading to your tooth enamel eroding, bacteria, and plaque (caused by food particles, bacteria, acid and saliva mixing). 

What do toothache and swollen gums mean?

If both your gums and teeth are sore, it probably means you have an infection. For example, when a root canal is required, the infected tooth as well as the gum area surrounding it give off pain and become inflamed. 

Swollen gums can be signs of wisdom teeth coming through, trapped food, a cracked tooth, decay, a tooth abscess or gum disease such as periodontitis or gingivitis. 

When to call your dentist?

Turning to home remedies for toothache often helps to bring down inflammation and treat pain, however, there are instances when a visit to the dentist is required to treat the root cause of the pain. For example, wisdom tooth extraction, root canal, or for fillings. 

Signs of when to make a dentist appointment? Extreme pain, excessive/uncontrollable bleeding, for a chipped tooth, swollen jaw, or when fever strikes.  

Conclusion

What are the best over-the-counter home remedies for toothache relief in South Africa? You won’t find a home remedy kit at your local supermarket, but most of these toothache remedies come in the form of common ingredients anyway, which you can buy from your local Checkers, Spar, Pick n Pay, Boxer or Woolworths. What home remedy can I use for toothache? From a saltwater rinse to garlic cloves to a teabag compress, all of these home remedies for toothache are available in South Africa, are cost-effective and common household items. They work wonders for helping to get rid of tooth pain, and many of the ingredients are plants, herbs, flowers, roots and bulbs utilised for centuries in traditional medicines, way before the introduction of modern medicine. 

Whilst they are excellent sources of help, especially the natural way, don’t ignore the signs when your toothache becomes unbearably sore, and nothing is doing the trick. That’s when you know it’s time to see your dentist. 

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