Dental Extraction Pain
Natural Remedies

Dental Extraction Pain - Editor's Choice

| Modified on Nov 06, 2023
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 Following a tooth extraction or oral surgery, significant pain is not uncommon. Natural remedies for pain following a dental extraction can bring a surprising amount of pain relief, without the risk of side effects from prescription pain medication. Home remedies for pain relief include clove oil, black tea bags, and the supplement bromelain.

Before considering any natural remedies, make sure they are compatible with your doctor’s recommendations! Each person is unique and each surgery is different. Additionally, you to consider any specific directions your doctor has given you for your individual situation. For example, oil pulling may not be compatible with many oral surgeries because of risk of “pulling” our the healing scabs in your mouth, or causing damage to stitches. If you have had significant bleeding or are on blood thinners, bromelain may not be suitable for your situation as it has blood thinning properties.

Clove Oil

Cloves have antiseptic and numbing properties. Clove essential oil is a concentrated form of cloves. Using a clean cotton bud clove oil is dabbed onto the areas of pain. This remedy is often used every few hours as needed for pain.

Tea Bags

Old fashioned black tea bags have been used for decades for their healing, astringent, and pain relieving properties. Simply moisten a tea bag and hold gently in your mouth at the site(s) of extraction. Using tea bags several times a day on the first day can often prevent swelling and promote healing.

Bromelain

Bromelain, derived from pineapple, is an anti-inflammatory supplement. Some find that it works as well as pain medication when taken every few hours.

Turmeric

Turmeric is an anti-inflammatory and antibacterial herb. Taken regularly it can keep inflammation at bay, reduce the risk of infection and help with pain.

Used for pain relief, usually 2 capsules are taken every four hours, and always with a full glass of water to prevent constipation.

Salt Water Rinse

Dissolve ½ teaspoon of salt in 1 cup of warm water to gently rinse your mouth every few hours. This is usually not recommended for day of surgery recovery but on the first and second day after recovery.

Ice

Ice packs held on the outside of your face can reduce pain and inflammation. Fill a few socks with rice and tie them on the ends. Freeze these rice socks. They made a very comfortable ice pack as they are soft and conform to your face.

Stay Hydrated

You may be sleeping more following surgery, especially if you are taking prescription pain medication, which can make it harder to keep up your fluid intake. Mild to moderate dehydration can increase pain. Try to drink at least 8 glasses of liquids (water and herbal tea are ideal.) These fluids will help to flush out the anesthesia you have been given as well.

Avoid Straws

Unless you are told you should be using straws, they are usually contraindicated after oral surgery because they can interfere with healing.

Avoid Extreme Food Temperatures

Hot foods are usually not recommended in the first few days following surgery. Allow foods that are served hot to cool a bit first. Heat can increase pain and also circulation, which may increase bleeding.

Very cold foods may irritate exposed nerves.

Eat Soft Healing Foods

Give your body soft nutritious foods during recovery. Chips, pretzels, and other crunchy foods can disturb the healing sites and must be avoided until healing is complete.

Soft Healing Foods to Enjoy:

  • Applesauce
  • Yogurt (avoid yogurts with fruits that have seeds)
  • Soft mashed potatoes
  • Mashed avocado
  • Mashed banana
  • Homemade jello
  • Homemade broth
  • Creamy soups
  • Soft scrambled eggs
  • Pudding
  • Soft macaroni and cheese
  • Smoothies (don't use a straw)
  • Oatmeal

Rest

Your body is recovering from a stressful event. It will heal faster if you allow it to rest. Follow your doctor’s instructions about when you may return to work or school. This is a great time to catch up on books or movies you wish to enjoy.

Prescription Pain Medication Cautions

You may find that using natural remedies will help so much with pain that prescription pain medications are not needed. If you do not need prescription pain medications, don’t use them. They are strong and have high addiction risks. Many people have uncomfortable side effects from them including poor sleep and constipation.

Do you have a natural remedy for pain following oral surgery? Please send us some feedback!

Keep reading to see how our readers have dealt with post-surgical pain.


The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.

Colloidal Silver and DMSO

Posted by Danny (WV) on 01/08/2018
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

I used DMSO and Colloidal Silver mixed half and half, when I had all my teeth pulled, rubbed it on my cheeks the first few days, and it took out all the swelling and pain, and then applied it directly to the teeth sockets. Everything closed up in a week. Dentist couldn't believe it.


Clove Oil

Posted by Teena (Aus) on 07/28/2017 233 posts
★★★★☆

Editor's Choice

After dental extraction requiring 2 hours of cutting and 15 stitches my husband was in a lot of pain even after taking panadiene forte, a very strong pain killer. He asked me if there was anything I could use (very rare) so I gave him clove oil but not having high expectations as whole clove had failed me recently when I was trying to avoid kids flu. He applied it with a cotton bud and I was surprised he got 3 hours relief. He slept. Well when he went back to work he soaked a cotton wool and left it there. He has done this a few times and the skin on his inner lip and gum is showing signs of irritation but he says I can work on that (probably coconut oil) when he is not in anymore pain.

I have been giving him to avoid infection and inflammation olive leaf, vitamin c, gse, li, sea salt and bs and Apple Cider Vinegar tonic. And once per day (as this is how often I see him), milk with turmeric, cinnamon and powdered clove.

It is healing nicely (day 3) and he is still using the clove oil but on cotton buds and not wearing all day.


Mama's Wisdom Tooth Extraction Remedies

Posted by Mama To Many (Tennessee) on 08/11/2016
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

Natural Remedies to Promote Healing After Wisdom Teeth Extraction

As much as I like to treat health issues as home with diet, herbs, and natural remedies, sometimes the help of a professional is needed. Such was the case with my 18 year old's wisdom teeth. He was having TMJ and a sinus issue caused by his wisdom teeth. We chose an oral surgeon that the dentist we trust recommends. My son had his wisdom teeth out ten days ago and has had an excellent recovery. I thought I would share some ways that we used natural remedies to help his healing along.

First of all I was delighted to see that his discharge instructions from surgery recommended that tea bags (black, as in Lipton) be used if bleeding could not be stopped. I liked the recognition that something as simple as tea was not being improved up by pharmaceuticals, which would have been much more expensive. 30 years ago, I used black tea bags on the sites of wisdom teeth extraction, upon recommendation of my mother and think it contributed to an easy recovery for me.

Secondly, salt water was recommended for rinsing the mouth several times a day. I was so happy that this simple solution was suggested instead of some expensive chemical alternative, and obvious credit was being attributed to its effectiveness.

While my son's teeth were mildly impacted, the surgeon did not think that prescription pain medication would be necessary. He gave me a prescription just in case, but I never even filled it. I know from experience that narcotic pain medications seem to make my children feel badly. I would have filled it if needed but it was never needed.

He was also given a prescription for amoxicillin antibiotics. I didn't fill that either. I am convinced that turmeric works at least as well and likely much better as an antibiotic. I gave him 4 turmeric capsules 4 times a day for several days and then tapered off the amount. Turmeric is also excellent for pain and inflammation.

I did have him hold colloidal silver in his mouth a few times to help prevent infection.

My son had almost no pain in the days following his surgery. He had me look in his mouth the day after surgery. He had no redness. No inflammation. No swelling. The surgical sites looked amazing.

He did have some pain six days after surgery but he had gone to work in the heat and was likely dehydrated. Once he came home and rehydrated the pain went away.

He did need to eat soft foods for a good week. But he had no pain. I did give him a couple of doses of ibuprofen the first day but it probably wasn't even needed. I don't know how much to attribute to an excellent surgeon, how much to credit the general good health and strength of my son, how much to attribute to turmeric, salt water rinses and colloidal silver and how much to attribute to prayer, but they were all in play.

Just my 2 cents on helping wisdom teeth recovery go well.

~Mama to Many~


Garlic

Posted by Ruth B. (Muskoka, Ontario, Canada) on 06/10/2016
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

After having a very difficult extraction of two wisdom teeth growing sideways, my dental surgeon told me to take pain killers before the freezing came out. Since I don't take pain killers, I sliced a thin piece of garlic and placed on both extraction stitched wounds as the pain became unbearable. First it burned slightly, then the pain lessened so I did not need to take pain killers. I continued to replace with fresh garlic slices for a couple of days. The healing process was also unbelievably fast. The dental surgeon couldn't believe the results.


Tea Bags, Clove Oil

Posted by Pixie (Indianapolis, In, Usa) on 03/03/2011
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

I had a tooth extraction two days ago and thought I'd share a couple of things that were shared with me to make recovery a lot easier.

1.) Instead of gauze, use a warm, wet teabag to apply pressure. The tannic acid in the tea will help stop the bleeding and cause the tissue to start healing faster. Any tea will do, though I used black tea.

2.) A drop of clove oil on the wound will help with pain. It stings at first and then numbs it. Clove oil is also good for helping the wound heal and has antiseptic properties, even if it has a nasty taste.

3.) After 24 hours, gently swish with salt water--about 1 teaspoon of salt to 1 cup of water. Swish after every meal. The salt will kill any bacteria and the gentle swishing will dislodge any particles of food from the open wound.

4.) Keep to soft food for the first 24-48 hours and easily chewed foods--nothing crunchy or chewy or drunk through a straw--after that.

5.) A vitamin C supplement is a good idea during the recovery phase.



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