Useful Tips

Toothache

The most common dental problem people typically face is toothache.  If you’re experinecing dental pain, we recommend the following

• Avoid extremes of temperature, such as hot drinks or very cold foods like ice cream
• Avoid sugary or acidic foods, especially sweets or fizzy drinks, even diet ones, as these can aggravate the pain.
• Take over -the-counter painkillers such as paracetamol.
• Use an over-the-counter anaesthetic gel, for example Orajel, which you can buy in a pharmacy to help relieve the pain.
• Continue to brush and floss your teeth as thoroughly as possible, and rub toothpaste directly onto the sore area.
• Massage the gum around the tooth to help ease the pain.
• Use cloves or cotton wool to place clove oil over the painful tooth or area of the mouth  –  you can buy cloves in the supermarkets.
• Keep your head elevated at night. Lying down can increase blood pressure in the tooth and cause pain.
• Keep the area cold by using a cool pack or frozen vegetables wrapped in a towel.  Apply this to your cheek.  Don’t apply ice directly to the tooth as this can increase pain and damage tissues.

If your toothache is causing you excruciating pain, a loss of sleep and the above steps havent helped, call us on 0161 748 3378 for help and advice.

Sharp Pain when Biting

• If you’re experincing a sharp pain when biting down, avoid hard foods such as nuts or sweets.  You should also avoid foods which require a lot of chewing such as baguettes or tough meats.  Try and use the other side of your mouth for chewing where you can.
• Take over-the-counter painkillers such as paracetamol to help relieve the pain if you need to.
• Sharp pain when biting down could be caused by tooth decay, a loose filling or a crack in your tooth.  It might also mean there’s damage to the pulp tissue inside your tooth, which could require treatment, such as root canal.
• If you experience sharp pain when biting, you should book an appointment with your dentist when we reopen for routine dental care, so we can provide a  long- term solution

Painful or Bleeding Gums

• Painful or bleeding gums isn’t a dental emergency and is usually caused by gum disease.  It can be stopped by improving your overall oral health.
• Make sure you clean in between your teeth with floss or interdental brushes and follow with a thorough toothbrush, clean twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste.

Wisdom tooth pain

Wisdom tooth pain is another commom dental problem which you can ususally help relieve at home.  We recommend you:

• Rinse your mouth with warm saltwater as often as you can.
• Buy some mouthwash suitable for gum problems, such as Corsodyl or Peroxyl, from your local pharmacy if you can.
• Take some over-the-counter painkillers such as paracetamol to help ease the pain.
• Continue to clean your wisdom teeth thoroughly, even if its painful to do so.
• Keep the area cold by using a cool pack or frozen vegetables wrapped in a towel.

If your wisdom tooth causes any swelling, difficulty opening your mouth or dificulty swallowing, call us on 0161 748 3378 and we can provide futher advice.

Tooth Sensitivity

• If you have an extremely sensitive tooth and are in discomfort, again as with toothache, we would recommend that you avoid any foods which are either very hot or cold, like ice cream or hot drinks, as well as any foods which are acidic or sugary.  These aggravate sensitive teeth.
• Continue to floss and brush your teeth as thorouly as you can and rub sensitive toothpaste such as Sensodyne or Colgate Pro Relief directly onto the affected area.  You can use normal toothpaste if you don’t have a sensitve one.

Facial Swelling

• Use a cold compress or frozen vegetable wrapped in a towel to bring down the swelling.
• Do not use a warm or hot compress.
• Rinse your mouth with warm saltwater repeatedly until the swelling comes down.

Mouth Ulcers

Mouth ulcers can usually be treated at home and should heal after 10 days.  If you have a mouth ulcer and want to relieve pain, you should:

• Clean the area with warm saltwater as much as possible.
• Take over the-counter painkillers such as paracetamol to relieve pain.
• Use mouthwash, Corsodyl and Difflam are good examples, which you can buy from your local pharmacy, to help reduce the ulcer.
• Use mouth ulcer relief gel such as Bonjela or Iglu, which can help with temporary pain relief

Last updated May 2022