Toothache on a weekend. What to do until you can see a dentist

Tooth pain almost always strikes in the evening or at the weekend, when dental practices are closed. Until you can see a dentist, the goal is to keep the inflammation under control without making the area worse.

What helps

• A common anti-inflammatory, ibuprofen, at the dose on the leaflet. It acts on the cause, not just the sensation.
• Rinses with warm salt water, a few times a day.
• Ice on the cheek, from the outside, 10 minutes at a time with breaks.
• Sleeping with your head raised, on two pillows. The pressure drops and night pain becomes more bearable.

What not to do

• Don't put aspirin directly on the tooth or gum. It burns the mucosa and doesn't help at all.
• Don't apply heat to your cheek if the area is swollen. Heat spreads the infection.
• Don't take antibiotics left over from a previous treatment without medical advice.
• Don't postpone because the pain has passed. If a nerve dies, the pain disappears, but the infection quietly continues.

At the clinic, the first intervention is almost always drainage and relieving the pressure inside the tooth. The pain eases in the same session, and the actual treatment, root canal or extraction, is done once the inflammation has gone down.