Garlic for Tooth Abscess: Natural Antibacterial Treatment

Garlic

Posted by Tooaverage (Delta, BC, Canada) on 12/09/2012
★★★★★

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I got an infection from my wisdom tooth extraction and my face was swollen like a chipmunk. I went to the Surgeon and was told to go on antibiotics or it wouldn't go away.

I refused to take the antibiotics so I used my own remedies and it was fully healed within a week! When I went back for a follow up the surgeon assumed the antibiotics had cured it when I hadn't even taken them.

I cut up a clove of garlic and chewed on it lightly and left it in the area then swallowed it to also get the immune system boost. The garlic was strong and it hurt like crazy but I could feel the healing. I have done this every day before bed and it started to heal as soon as I started doing this.

-- Make sure to clean the infection site (if your specialist says it is OK) with a syringe with warm water and salt after every single meal to avoid infection.

In addition to Garlic I took the following:

Apple Cider Vinegar (swish and swallow)
Drinking lots of Green Tea
Vitamin D
Olive Leaf Complex
Clove Oil applied to the area
Yogurt
Vitamin B
Ibuprofen for pain/swelling

I am still trying to find a natural anti-inflammatory that actually works.

Garlic

Posted by Don Quixote (Los Angeles, Ca) on 09/14/2012
★★★★★

I've had serious pain under my nose a week and a half ago. I didn't have any sores or anything on my gums. I didn't know what it was until I went to the dentist about a week later which was yesterday. The dentist told me I have a cavity above the gumline and that it was causing an infection causing the abcess in my gum. He told me many things that I needed to do and I refused. He told me he was going to prescribe me antibiotics but I kindly declined. I went home and freaked out a little bit because I heard so many scary things about abcessed gums and teeth.

I woke up this morning with severe pain. Almost bone chilling. I was not happy. Popped some Motrin (2 to be exact) and it pretty much did nothing. I swished some oil of oregano, xylitol, coconut oil but for some reason none of it did anything except make the abcess bigger. I then put salt on it and left it on for about 35 minutes and did this 3 times. Still nothing but I could see the bubble growing really huge spanning two teeth (my front and my right incisor) and growing from the top of my gumline where it connects to my inner lip stretching almost to my gumline at my tooth. In all honesty, I freaked the f*ck out and was nearly about to call the dentist and ask for those antibiotics.

Then I read something on Earth Clinic about garlic. I had chewed garlic before when I had a serious toothache and it really helped so I gave it a try.

I sliced a thin slice of garlic and put it directly over the abcess and left it there. For the first 5 minutes I was nearly in tears and I'm a grown man of past 30! The intense stinging subsided after about 5 minutes and I decided to do some yoga to ease my mind. I believe there is a HUGE mind/body connection and I actually attribute my growing pustule to my dentist visit. It had been getting better up until I saw the dentist and he told me that I had an abcess.

Deepak Chopra once told a story about a doctor friend of his who had not gone for a checkup in 10 years. When he finally went for his checkup, an xray showed some black spots on his lung which was diagnosed to be cancer. Not long after, this doctor died. One day, while Chopra was cleaning out his friend's office, he came across an xray of his friend's lungs that was taken almost ten years prior. When he held it up to the light, he saw the same black dots which meant his friend had been successfully living with lung cancer for 10 years and didn't die until he found out about it! This is why I feel my visit to the dentist exacerbated my situation because my unknown "sore" was getting better on its own until I found out the "true cause" of it.

Anyhow, after about 40 minutes of leaving the garlic on the wound and doing some yoga to ease my mind while listening to meditation music, my pustule exploded. It was nasty and I had a mouth full of blood. I felt soooo much better. I now have another slice of garlic over it and will be changing it out every so often for the next few weeks to nip this in the bud but what I really think did this is my belief in the garlic remedy. Those of you searching for remedies here, don't even try it if you don't have faith behind what you're doing because it won't work for you.

If you ever get a chance, look up the Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murphy. Amazing book that changed my life. Good luck to you all!

Garlic

Posted by Kelly (Cambridge, Ma) on 05/12/2011
★★★★★

Stick with the garlic. It works wonders! I had a very similar experience a few months ago and was blown-away by how well the garlic worked.

You didn't mention how much garlic you've been taking. I used fresh garlic. Chop up one good sized clove and let it sit for about 10 min's, then put it on a spoon to take it and wash it down with lots of water.

I did this three times a day and in about 3-4 days, the swelling and pain were completely gone. I can't say enough about the use of garlic for these type issues. Truly amazing.

Garlic

Posted by Susan (Owen Sound, Ontario, Ontario Canada) on 02/10/2011
★★★★★

I have been having an issue with an infection in the bone beneath a failed root canal. Antibiotics didn't touch it, and I was told the tooth would have to come out. I started chewing raw garlic for the pain, which worked immediately. I then started rinsing with a 50/50 solution of hydrogen peroxide and water, and after only two days, the swelling has gone down and the tooth again feels like it "fits' in my mouth. I would never have believed that garlic and H2O2 would have made such a remarkable difference, but it has. I may still have to have an extraction in the future, but for now, all is well and that's good enough for me! Thank you EC for this amazing resource!

Garlic

Posted by Jan (Southern Utah) on 02/01/2025
★★★★★

I have a right lower back molar that was already sensitive to pressure, feeling kinda uncomfortable. My tooth flared up bad after given a bag of zebra popcorn at the end of a snacks potluck... I took it home and couldn't resist eating all that sugar junk over 24hours time, and its been a shock to my system especially this tooth. Not an easy repair. Pain had spread to whole jaw and cheek swelling and then started going down my neck. But this is what is helping a lot.

Garlic on tooth- cut a piece of garlic off the clove that is the width of the tooth. Any length is OK. The cut exposed side is the side that I use. First I used the point of a small knife to make various lines to help loosen the exposed garlic side. I put the cut side on the affected tooth. I can keep it there overnight while sleeping or for an hour. I can feel a warming sensation to the surrounding gum and jaw area like the garlic is spreading. The uncut side of the garlic doesn't seem to affect or burn my tongue or side of cheek cause its not cut. This helps with feeling less and lowering the abscess.
Blend garlic for a quick drink - I put 1 whole big piece garlic in blender with just enough water to cover the blades. Blend to liquefy about a minute. This could irritate my stomach when drinking so I have to have some other nourishment before or after, not on an empty stomach then quickly drink the shot down. ASAP. It burns the throat a little for a few seconds but quickly subsides. This brings tooth pain relief within the hour of trying it.
Put garlic in whatever food I have. Crushed raw garlic added at the end to some soup or blend in a smoothie with a whole lemon including peel and scoop of plant based collagen or protein powder.
Don't use animal products while trying to get better, it has foreign DNA that stresses immune system.
Lemon garlic lemonade recipe - that has brought abscess down by half. I had prayer what to do when the pain was bad and got this idea that works. 2 cups water, one whole small or half large lemon with the peel. One garlic clove, honey to taste...blend to liquefy about 3minutes on a regular blender... Tastes ok
Garlic pills - make sure any immune support pills have garlic. But the raw garlic works best.

So far so good, the jaw, cheek and neck are back to normal. My tooth is still alive and improving, not as painful.

A quick pain relief before the garlic on tooth is a special tooth brushing. I put natural toothpaste on toothbrush then dip toothbrush in some Aztec calcium bentonite powder. Then a drop or two of clove oil on that and brush the tooth and gums around tooth. This helps quickly temporarily for relief but the garlic helps deeper and more long-term.

Also taking 1000 mg vit c with rosehips multiple times during the day. And holding hand over the area of cheek and jaw. I have read the hand helps with good healing energy... Staying hydrated is important, getting enough sleep is vital.

And natural nourishing salad helps, such as: 6 cups cooked white beans, half raw cabbage thinly sliced slaw with handful each of green onions, arugula, parsley all sliced, handful of a mix of raw sunflower pumpkin seeds and pine nuts, the grated zest and dressing of juiced lemon, spoon of mustard, some tamari sauce about 1/8 cup...mix well, big salad, eat for meals till gone. Helps with healing. Good nourishing mix.

Also snack of vanilla flavored plain coco june coconut yogurt with a little non sugar munk fruit extract sweetener. Known to help with cavities.

Garlic

Posted by Jen (Hudson, Nh) on 06/18/2017
★★★★★

So being a Saturday I knew most offices would be closed... I have very very bad teeth and they are giving me Dentures on top and through the teeth on the bottom need to be extracted and the rest need to have work done to them as well so hopefully within the next six months I will be all set and ready to go. Meanwhile, the back molar on the right hand side was broken in 1/2 missing so you can imagine that there's not a whole lot that anybody can do. But we only have minced garlic at home and I just put a teaspoon of the oil in my mouth directly on the busted tooth that has pus coming out of it. I did call the dentist and they are prescribing me antibiotics thank God when I woke up this morning, I was in such agony I think that that's why I woke up so early this morning. So I just want to say that garlic is the way to go, it is absolutely the way to go.

I also took a very small teaspoon of the actual garlic clove that is minced and put it directly on the area and I'm letting it sit and chewing it up a little bit and in a minute I'm going to spit it out but I do not have the pain that I did this morning I am shocked by that I think it's absolutely fantastic

Garlic

Posted by Dee (Arkansas) on 02/04/2018

Make yourself a mixture of garlic and sea salt, put in grinder if you have one, if not then just mix them together and add 1 cup of distilled water. Put on stove for 15 minutes. Drain/strain and add honey to liquid and take 1 tbsp 3-4 times a day.

Garlic

Posted by Leanne (Australia) on 03/18/2017
★★★★★

My partner was in agony with an tooth infection. He tried codeine, salt water and everything other than garlic. Looking up home remedies I saw garlic is the no1 home remedy. Amazing results as he can now sleep. He said pain went instantly. Highly recommened as it really does work.

Garlic

Posted by Ashokan (Gilbert) on 12/26/2016
★★★★☆

BETTER BUT WITH SIDE EFFECTS

I am on visit to USA to have some great time( for about 4 months ) with my kids and grand kids. Right from the 2nd month beginning started developing gum and front tooth infections. Used antibiotics prescribed by my dentist at home (2 doses a day in morning and evening). 3 or 4 days after infections surfaced again. My antibiotics stocks were about to be exhausted and was wondering what to do. I didn't like to put burden on my kids physically and financially and decided to go back beforehand and informed my family about this. I used hydrogen peroxide and salt water mouth washings without any success.

Finally unknowingly I used raw garlic for 2 days. Infection at the end of the gum healed but leaving infection inside the gum not healed resulting in a continuous pain. I felt that I made mistake using garlic. I used antibiotic for 3 days again and got the pain relieved. After 2 days infections surfaced with more teeth. Some how I decided to give another try with raw garlic.

A week has passed with chewing 2 cloves in morning and 2 in the evening. Most of the infections got healed and now I have no pain. I am confident that I can stay with my kids for the rest of planned vacation. Before going back I will report my dental health status again. I suggest readers to review their dental health status before using raw garlic to treat infections.

Garlic

Posted by Kaysho (St Albans, Uk) on 12/19/2016
★★★★★

So I have had an abscess - upper right canine tooth - was very infected so it reached my eye socket and I had a course of antibiotics that didnt shift it - after a few days it started to come back and I needed some more antibiotics which still didnt quite shift it - I read about Garlic yesterday and chewed a clove - put it against my gum (which hurts like hell) and then repeated 3 times yesterday.

This morning it was half the size - so repeated garlic against gum for 10 minutes of so - chewing it occasionally to release the pain inducing goodness...(allicin maybe) -

I think by tomorrow it will be totally gone - I am not sure garlic is so healthy if you're actually in good health as I hear it has Sulphone Hydroxyl which I believe makes your brain foggy and doesn't look good - BUT as a cure - like a medicinal dose - 10 out of 10 - for me it was like a 24 hour miracle and I was about to go back to the dentist today.

Garlic

Posted by Lisa (Raleigh ) on 10/06/2016
★★★★★

While visiting family in my hometown last week I developed a severe toothache on an upper second molar that had been recently crowned. Used a topical, aspirin and whiskey to help with pain. It throbbed intermittently for two days and at times I had to stop what I was doing for a few minutes until the pain had passed. I've always used alternatives, so looked up remedies and raw garlic was number one. I cut a sliver of garlic and held it on that tooth with gentle pressure for a few minutes, then chewed it up and swallowed. Repeated this several times and the pain I'd had for 2-3 days went from level 6 to a 2. Flew back home and went to my dentist next day who said I needed a root canal on that tooth. Did the garlic a couple more times before my appointment with endodontist today. He was surprised I was referred to him as the testing he did resulted in just slight pain and sensitivity. Sent me home, with a follow up in a week. I'm continuing to do the garlic, and am seeing improvement.

Have been practicing alternative treatments for many years, and I am a HUGE fan of garlic. I use it in cooking quite a bit, but that kills its medicinal properties. I'm going to continue eating it raw, and warn/inform my friends and coworkers about it's lovely odor and miraculous healing properties!

Garlic

Posted by Angie (Oceanside) on 11/25/2015

My teeth do not hurt but I have been suffering with dizziness, clogged ears, off balance and blurry vision. With no pain at all could I have an abscess tooth.

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Posted by Katzie (Canada) on 12/13/2022

Each and every infection in a body leaves damage behind. A gum boil sounds kinda important to jump on and try to kill it until it is dead. Your gums are the foundation of your oral health and your teeth. Digestion starts in our mouths! People get heart attacks if they eat before brushing their teeth all the time (ingesting bad bacteria). Please take care of this.

I recommend Colloidal Silver, 1TBSP 3 or 4 times a day until that thing is gone. I would also soak a cotton ball and put that against it for 20 mins at a time. Also look into DMSO, as it will take the Colloidal Silver in deep. DMSO on its own would work, too. Also, look into Castor Oil Packs (plenty of info on this site). There are many ways to heal an abscess naturally.

If you can't afford CS or DMSO, please read the Tooth Abscess threads here and look for the healing ingredients that you can or already have.

Oil Pulling is great. If you add any essential oils, just make it for a few drops (5-7), as they are very powerful on their own. Any essential oil would work, too, I'd think.

Healthful healing thoughts to you!!

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Posted by denise (CA) on 01/09/2020

thanks Robert. We do need to be careful for sure with "even" natural things. I accidentally had the top of an Essential Oil (frankinsense) popoff when adding it to my bath. I didn't want to waste it so I went ahead and got it. I was very lucky to only get the burn feeling and no skin damage though. I sure learned my lesson. The "burning" lasted a couple hours, even having showered quickly, and and then dabbing with cold-water towels. This was 100% pure, so-called good brand which I believe it is. But too much can get us in trouble, or "how" we use it ;)

Garlic

Posted by KT (Usa) on 03/16/2017
0 out of 5 stars

I think I have overdone it with the garlic cloves on an abscessed tooth. I then used a tea bag on it and oil pulled with CO. It is a lower bicuspid I had a root canal on. It is also a tooth without a crown. My gum is raw and sore. It is important to note that this time I did not just bite on the garlic clove. Because I had read posts of people making a paste out of garlic powder, I tucked the clove between my gums and cheek where it was directly over where the abscess had come through. Is there something else I can use to soothe and help my gums heal because that area really looks bad. I also used a charcoal poultice but don't know if I can use that overnight. I'm fearful of infection. I took some CS at five o'clock.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Garlic

Posted by Andy (Port Huron, Mi) on 03/04/2017
★★★★★

I have tried everything, including narcotics, orajel, ibuprofen, you name it, I tried it...... But when I put the garlic on my abscess..... Wow... Amazing! Thanks alot!

Garlic

Posted by Jim (Frostburg) on 02/09/2016

Phyllis, thanks for your warning.

In my own experience, one thin slice of raw garlic was enough to do the job, and how. I cringed when you wrote "several" ;-)

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Posted by Gabbysue (Haltom City, Texas) on 03/03/2014
★★★★★

When my son was 18 he had a root canal. The dentist put in a porcelain tooth. I assume because it was a back tooth. He is now 27. He told me the other day that the tooth had started to fall out and he pushed it back in. He said it didn't hurt. My first thought unfortunately came to light. The next day he woke up with the left side of his face extremely swollen. I was afraid that when he pushed it back in he also pushed bacteria, etc. in. Not having insurance I came here to see if there was a home remedy. I read a tried and true story from Phil in Manchester, UK from 02/23/13. I knew my son would be too skeptical, so I had him read the story. Being in so much pain he agreed to try it. I gave him a sliver of garlic and told him to hold it on the sore gum for at least 3 minutes. Poor guy, his eyes started watering and I could tell it made the pain worse. After 3 mins he spit it out. About 15 or so mins he ran to the bathroom. The abscess had started draining. He stayed in the bathroom spitting and rinsing with water for 15 mins. The next morning he had no swelling or pain. I am so thankful that I found earthclinic.

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Posted by Phil (Manchester, United Kingdom) on 02/23/2013
★★★★★

Well, all I can say is this site has seriously saved me from continued pain. I started getting some tooth pain in a tooth that is currently undergoing root canal treatment last night (Friday - isn't that always the way with dental pain?). Today I've had gum and cheek swelling and some pretty extreme pain. Yesterday I was able to manage the pain with ibuprofen however it has had little effect today. Around 2 hours ago I noticed that there were abscess heads around the tooth. With a small bit of pressure the abscess burst and a mix of yellow/creamy fluid along with what appeared to be blood began to flow out which obviously shows that there is an infection. However, the pain continued. In desperation, I searched for some home remedies due to not being able to see the dentist for another 42 hours. Now, I've never been a believer in home remedies which is probably due to the circles that I mix with; my fiance is a Doctor, her mother is a Veterinary Surgeon etc. However, after reading the thread I rushed to the shop and purchased some garlic. I split one of the cloves and cut a large chunk out of it. I applied the chunk of garlic to the side of the tooth that the fluid had come from... At first it was fine with the exception of a slight tingle in my tongue, however after about 30 seconds the pain really kicked in. I kept it there for as long as I could (about 3 - 4 minutes) and then swallowed the liquid and spat out the remainder of the cloves.

I didn't notice any difference at first (if anything it was now stinging as well as being generally painful), however 20 minutes later the pain literally disappeared. I was sat watching TV holding my mouth and it was as if the pain was just switched off! I'm now able to close my mouth and even chew which is ridiculous considering the pain I was in.

Everyone - this is genuine. If it worked for me (and as I said I'm a firm nay-sayer when it comes to home remedies) then it could work for you!

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Posted by Kathy (the USA) on 12/05/2012
★★★★★

YES, garlic killed my pain. Then I read about soaking a tea bag to apply to the tooth for thirty minutes or so. I went to a specialist for a root canal but the x-ray revealed the abscess was GONE!! I was very concerned because the roots of my teeth appear to be in my sinus cavity. THANK YOU EARTH CLINIC AND ALL WHO POSTED!

Garlic

Posted by Suzanne (CALIFORNIA) on 12/24/2024

You have to take the garlic every 5 or 6 hours. Once you crush and mince the garlic wait about 10 minutes because an oil is released then. If you take it with grapefruit juice it is much easier on the mouth and tastebuds.