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Quick fix: toothache

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And the best herb for toothache is ...

... yarrow root (Achillea millefolium).

Dig up a piece of root (the older brown roots are stronger than the younger white ones) and put about 5 cm of it in your mouth, on the achy side. Chew it up and let it sit there.

After about 15 minutes the ache is gone. So much so that you don't remember where it ached - left or right side? Oh, right, the piece of root is on the left side. Up or down, though? No idea, at all. You can spit out the root now.

The ache may or may not come back in an hour or three. If it does, chew up another piece of root. Rinse and repeat, until you can get an appointment with a dentist.

Toothaches have a tendency to turn up on a Friday evening, so you'll need enough root to get you over a weekend, in winter. In summer you can just dig fresh root, no trouble - there's yarrow everywhere. I keep a jar of 5 cm long dried root bits; you'll need perhaps 15-20 pieces per toothache per weekend.

Note, you should go to your dentist. Because a toothache might just be a bacterial infection under an old filling, and if so, that's a real risk of real septicaemia. If you leave things be, chances are that those bacteria will infest your kidneys (hello, dialysis) or your heart (ooops), sometime during the next few years. Believe me, a dentist is cheaper than the hospital bills for either of those.

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You've used cloves (Syzygium aromaticum), you say? They're much too strong, and can kill the nerves of a tooth. Believe me, you do not want dead nerves in otherwise healthy teeth.

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Related entries: Yarrow

Comments

I see you are still bucking clove oil. Some things never change. I beg to differ; both about the clove oil and its purported effect on the nerve. The nerve is most likely lost through bacterial action, with clove being the innocent but blamed nevertheless (just like other medicinal herbs).

A couple of clove drops works great and if that doesn't work then follow the couple of drops soon afterward with a couple of drops of tinctured myrrh. The myrrh knocks out of tincture with salival dilution and forms a gummy seal over the cavity -- plus it kills pain. Works great.

Hate to argue with you but this "thread" sorta brings back old times. Anyway, won't argue again [fingers x'd], promise.

To even things up, you can tell me that abdominal fat cells (mesenchymal) are oestrogen secretors and then we can argue the merits of that steroidal hormone 'Vitamin' D.

Oh my. I'm argumentative today. I've been reading Canadian healthcare blogs and that always gets me goin'.

I just tried Clove oil. Phew. While it is really hot it really does do the job. Even numbs the mouth. But, also, I did learn how to make a Yarrow root poultice with coconut oil and fresh yarrow root, and that does amazing stuff, too. I learned from a Native American who was taught by his grandmother. If you get a toothguard and pack it with the poltice then set it around the infected tooth, it does wonders for pain and even drawing out infection. Both of these are great options, but the clove oil packs a punch that yarrow root doesn't. But clove oil is easier to get while you can't always nab fresh yarrow root. I pick it our local Kmart because it grows around there.

ooh nice, thank you for that!

You use essential oil of clove straight in a tooth and blame nerve death on bacteria?

Even aromatherapists don't use oil of clove straight.

Oil of clove isn't an herb, it's an essential oil. But even cloves themselves can kill a nerve if they're on an aching tooth for too long.

Yarrow root is an herb, and it works admirably for toothaches with no risk for nerve damage.

And why insist on exotics?

Yarrow root? Good to know. I will have see if I can get that here in La Grande, Oregon, United States.

You can't buy yarrow root. You have to dig it up yourself.

I was wanting to know how do I find this root. I have my wisdom tooth breaking through, that hurts like no other. so, if you could tell me how to come about this flower or what not.

You can't buy it, but yarrow grows all over the northern hemisphere - find the plant and dig the root.