Using Painkillers to Ease Toothache

When the nagging pain of toothache flares up, most people will turn to painkillers to help ease the discomfort, but it’s not as simple as buying some over-the-counter pills, you need to take into account safety precautions that could affect your treatment. If you chose to ignore instructions from your dentist or doctor, you could be seriously jeopardising your health. Furthermore, it’s not just prescription medications that are dangerous, tablets like Ibuprofen and Paracetamol also need to be treated with care, because they can be fatal in high doses. Pain that surfaces as a result of some type of dental surgery, such as a filling or root canal, can be especially worrying, but there are products available from your local pharmacy that can help. If you can’t speak to your dentist about pain relief, it might be worth making an appointment with your GP, they can give you advice on how best to deal with your symptoms and it’s a better idea than acting on impulse – no one should put their life at risk just because they don’t know how to cope with toothache.

Is it safe to use painkillers for toothache?

Over-the-counter pain-relief products can be very helpful with mild to moderate toothache, and it is perfectly safe to use them for this purpose; anti-inflammatories are ideal for calming the painful nerve signals coming from the centre of the tooth, and they don’t require a prescription either. However, it’s always worth remembering that, as useful as painkillers are, they will only make you feel more comfortable, they can’t get rid of the underlying problem affecting you. Using pills to mask serious symptoms of infection or disease will only work for so long, you need to speak to a professional about your condition and get it treated properly.

Here are a few things worth remembering when using painkillers to deal with toothache:

Choose your product carefully – Not all painkillers are the same, so you need to consider which ones are best to help with your individual circumstances, there are also some products that can exacerbate health conditions if taken indiscriminately, for example; ibuprofen can irritate the stomach lining in patients who have suffered with stomach ulcers. If you’re not sure about which type of pain relief is best suited to your situation, speak with your doctor about your general health, they will be able to advise you on the next steps to take with your treatment.

Always follow the recommended dosage – It’s easier than you think to take one too many pain pills and end up in hospital, so you should always stick to the dose indicated on the packet or prescribed by your doctor. It might help to keep a record of how many tablets you have taken throughout the day, if you are on a specific course of prescription medication. Over-the-counter products will come with an instruction booklet, which contains information about how many to take and what to do if you accidentally ingest too many – it’s important to remember that just because you have bought them from a shop, without needing permission from your doctor, it doesn’t mean you are safe to take as many as you like. Prescription pills don’t come with instructions normally, but the dosage should be clearly stated on the packaging, to make sure you don’t forget how and when to take your medication. In addition, if you can, try to avoid taking strong painkillers for an extended amount of time, you could become addicted to them, and then end up with a much more difficult problem to deal with.

Don’t rely too heavily on painkillers – As mentioned briefly above, numbing the pain won’t get rid of your dental complaints, it will only ease them for a short length of time. Problems can also arise if the symptoms of a more serious health condition are masked by pills; your body could be trying to make you aware of something possible life-threatening. Don’t depend too much on painkillers, only medical treatment can help you get rid of the pain permanently.

Can antibiotics help with toothache after a filling?

If you develop an infection after your surgery, you might be prescribed some antibiotics; these are not specifically for the pain, they are taken to deal with the bacteria attacking your system. However, a happy side-effect of getting rid of infection is that the toothache is relieved also, as the overall treatment deals with the element causing the pain. This is why it is vital that you seek treatment for the underlying problems, by getting rid of the source of the pain, it will relieve the toothache permanently. If you are prescribed antibiotics and you want to take some painkillers as well, you should speak to your GP about the safety aspects of this; not all products can be combined, a rest period may be required between them.

How safe is it to try home remedies instead of pills?

Most patients would be only too happy to take whatever they can get their hands on if they are suffering with severe toothache, but if you would prefer a more natural solution, there are several home remedies that you could try. DIY treatment is not guaranteed, but it can help with pain from fillings, while you are waiting to see your dentist again. It’s also worth noting that the process is not an exact science, so it might take you a few attempts to find the right combination that works for you.

A lot of the home remedies you could try, such as a salt rinse, have properties that are used in medical treatments every day, and most people probably don’t realise that their pills and other scientific remedies have their roots in natural substances. For serious toothache, you need to speak to a professional, but in the meantime, it is quite safe to use home treatments to try and ease the pain.

If you are having trouble with pain after a filling, call the Pearl Dental Clinic and organise a follow-up procedure, it’s possible that your filling may need reshaping or replacing.