Dental Abscess Pain Relief While You Wait For Treatment

One of the most notable characteristics of a dental abscess, besides the swelling, the unusual and unpleasant taste in the back of your mouth and difficulties chewing due to sensitivity to heat and cold, is the intense pain in the affected area.

Unlike other health conditions, which gradually progress in intensity, a dental abscess often causes a lot of pain in its emergence due to how the swelling presses against the many nerves in your mouth and jaw.

This means that an urgent trip to the dentist is essential, and if the wait for this is too long, you will often be recommended a course of antibiotics such as amoxicillin to help kill the bacteria causing the dental infection that is causing the abscess itself.

Medical professionals use antibiotics carefully and selectively, and amoxicillin (or metronidazole in some cases) is prescribed for dental infections because they are almost always caused by a bacterial infection and thus will be highly effective.

However, whilst the antibiotics are working to fight the infection, the need for pain relief is extremely intense, so with that in mind, here are some ways to soothe your mouth whilst waiting for your dental appointment and antibiotics to take effect.

Will Over-the-Counter Painkillers Help Ease Dental Abscess Pain?

The first and perhaps most obvious place people will turn to for pain relief is over-the-counter painkillers, which include not only nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) but also paracetamol.

Your dentist, local pharmacist, prescriber and the NHS 111 service will often recommend taking painkillers as directed on the package leaflet, and whilst this will not fix your tooth pain, it can take the edge off of what is often particularly sharp pain.

Which Over-The-Counter Painkillers Can You Take For Dental Pain?

In general, any painkiller that you can buy over the counter, you are not allergic to, and you know works can be used to treat dental pain. The three most common painkillers available to buy without a prescription are:

• Paracetamol (Also known by the brand name Panadol).
• Aspirin (Also known by the brand name Anadin).
• Ibuprofen (Also known by the brand name Nurofen).

If none of these work, you can sometimes buy low-strength co-codamol, a combination of paracetamol and the opioid codeine, from your local pharmacy, although given the addictive nature of the latter, it is only provided if no other medicine will help.

Can You Combine Pain Medications To Treat Dental Pain?

It is dangerous to take more pain medication than the recommended dose, more than one medicine that contains the same active ingredient, or more than one medication that relieves pain in the same way.

In general, you can take paracetamol with either ibuprofen or aspirin, but you cannot take ibuprofen with aspirin, or paracetamol with co-codamol (because it contains paracetamol).

Ask your doctor or pharmacist if you have any questions about what you can take and what active ingredients your pain relief medication contains.

Which Foods Can You Eat To Soothe Dental Abscess Pain?

In general, you should avoid very hot or very cold foods, as well as anything crunchy, sugary or particularly hard.

The best foods to eat are warming, soft foods that require very little chewing, such as:

• Soup that has been left to cool slightly.
• Sugar-free yoghurt that is not freezing cold.
• Mashed potatoes.
• Scrambled eggs or omelettes.

Try to eat on the other side of your face from your dental abscess to avoid causing further sensitivity, pain or a chance of a rupture.

Can A Cold Compress Help Relieve Dental Abscess Pain?

As with other forms of swelling, a cold compress placed close to the part of your mouth where the abscess is located can help to soothe the pain, lower the swelling, and provide some immediate relief by lowering blood flow to the area.

As with any other use of a cold compress, avoid pressing it against your face for more than 20 minutes at a time.

Could A Saltwater Rinse Help Soothe Dental Abscess Pain?

According to Colgate, a saltwater rinse can help promote healing in your mouth and make it more difficult for bacteria to breed, which means that whilst it cannot destroy an infection outright, it can provide pain relief.

Mix half a teaspoon of table salt into a glass of warm water, take a gulp and swish it inside your mouth for 30 seconds before taking care to spit it out.

Do this twice or three times a day, and it can encourage healing, reduce swelling and pus from the abscess itself.

How Can You Soothe A Dental Abscess Whilst Waiting For Your Prescription?

• Take over-the-counter painkillers, such as aspirin, paracetamol or ibuprofen.
• Eat soft, warm foods.
• Use a cold compress to reduce swelling.
• Raise your head when you sleep.
• Try a saltwater rinse.