Oral Health

ABSCESS - TOOTH OR GUM

Belladonna - Best used for early dental abscess accompanied by redness and throbbing. 
Bryonia - Use for acute inflammation or if pricking pain is relieved by firm pressure. 
Hepar Sulphuris - Use for abscess accompanied by pus formation. 
Myristica - Use when swelling is accompanied by numbness of the area. 
Pulsatilla - Use when the pain is accentuated by heat and relieved by cold water. 
Pyrogenium - Use when pus is present without drainage. 
Silicea - Use to hasten the discharge when pus is draining.

APPREHENSION ABOUT DENTAL TREATMENT

Aconite - Use for panic, fright, and general mental and physical restlessness, or sudden violent attacks. 
Calcerea carbonica - Use for the fearful, weary, and hopeless person who worries toward evening. 
Coffea cruda (potentized coffee) - Works well as a tranquilizer. 
Chamomilla - as a tranquilizing action for restful sleep. Also raises low pain threshold.
Nux vomica - Works well in many high strung, nervous, irritable people with stomach problems. 
Pulsatilla - Use for states of anxiety.

BRUXISM / TOOTH GRINDING

Belladonna - Use for grinding problem that causes painful teeth. 
Podophyllum - Use for night grinding when experiencing a burning sensation of the tongue. 
Tuberculinum - Use for children who grind their teeth.

GINGIVITIS, PERIODONTITIS AND ALVEOLITIS

Arsenicum album - Use for unhealthy, bleeding gums. 
China - Use for gum tissue that is bleeding. 
Ferrum phosphoricum - Use for poor gum tone or gums that bleed after brushing. 
Hypericum - Use for tender gum tissue and to promote healing. 
Kali chloricum - Use for acute ulcerative tissue. 
Naturium muriaticum - Tissue integrity. 
Hepar sulphuris - Tissue with suppuration, chronic abcesses. 
Silicea - Periodontal abscess with swollen glands. 
Staphysagria - Loose teeth, pain increased by pressure. 
Symphytum - Injuries to periosteum. Stimulates growth of epithelium on ulcerated surfaces. 
Mercurius solubilis - Use for acute ulcerative tissue with a coated tongue and metallic taste in the mouth. 
Nux vomica - Use for swollen painful gums when the back of the tongue has a whitish coating and when the patient consumes a lot of stimulants such as coffee and tea. 
Phosphorus - Use on swollen gums that bleed easily, and when there's an overproduction of saliva. 
Ruta graveolens - Use for injured bone and alveolitis ("dry socket").

HAEMORRHAGE

Arnica - Use for bleeding accompanied by bruised soreness. 
Ferrum phosphoricum - Use when there is bright red bleeding. 
Phosphorus - Use for persistent bleeding.

NEURALGIA

Aconite - Trigeminal neuralgia 
Aranea diadema - Use for radiating pain in the right side of the face that is aggravated by cold. Also use for sudden, severe pain in the teeth at night after lying down. 
Cuprum metallicum - Use for cramping of muscles. 
Gelsemium sempervirens - Use to relieve headache and pain of the upper back and neck, which extends over the head and for dizziness and numbness. 
Ignacia - Use for headache as if a nail were driven through the side of the head. 
Lachesis - Left-sided complaints 
Lycopodium - Right-sided complaints 
Magnesia phosphorus - Use for spasmodic pains made worse by cold water and made better by heat and rubbing. 
Sanguinaria - Right-sided neuralgia- facial migraine. 
Spigelia - Use for pain involving the eye, cheek, and left temple areas. 
Zincum phosphoricum - Sharp pains on right side of head. 
Zincum valerian - Sharp pains on left side of head.

POST OPERATIVE DISCOMFORT

Apis mellifica - Good for post-injection soreness after dental work. 
Chamomilla - Give one hour prior to dental appointrnent for patients with a low pain threshold. It also expedites the wearing off of the numbness following the dental appointment. 
Hypericum - Use where there is an injured nerve. 
Ledum - Use for puncture wounds and soreness resulting from a dental injection. 
Magnesia phosphorica - Use for stiff, sore jaws following prolonged dental work when the muscles are cramped and feel better with warmth. 
Staphysagria - Use for incision-type wounds after soft tissue surgery. 
Symphytum - Use for trauma of bone and periosteum.

SALIVATION EXCESSIVE OR REDUCED

Baryta carbonica - Use when there is excessive saliva during sleep. 
Bryonia alba - Use for an extremely dry mouth, with dryness of mucous membranes and great thirst. 
Phosphorus - Use for hypersalivation and when gums are swollen and bleed easily. 
Pulsatilla - Use for diminished saliva with no thirst.

TEMPOROMANDIBULAR JOINT (TMJ) DYSFUNCTION

Arum triphyllum - Use for pain in joint on swallowing. 
Calcarea flourica - Use for hypermobile joints 
Calcarea phosphorica - Use when mouth cannot be opened without pain. 
Carbo vegetabilis - Use for vertigo with nausea and tinnitus. 
Chamomilla - Use for low pain threshold. Unbearable spasms of pain radiating into the ear. 
Cuprum metallicum - Use for trismus of muscles. 
Granatum - Use for painful cracking of the joint. 
Magnesium phosphorica - Use for muscle spasms. 
Phytolacca decanda - Use for earaches with pain extending into teeth, jaw, and throat. 
Rhus toxicodendron - Use for joint stiffness that improves with movement and for popping" of TMJ.

TOOTHACHE

Antimonium crudum - Use for a toothache that is worse at night and is aggravated by heat. 
Aranea diadema - Use for sudden, severe pain in the teeth after lying down. 
Belladonna - Use for throbbing tooth that's worse when pressure is applied. 
Calcarea carbonica - Use for a toothache that worsens when exposed to hot or cold air. 
Chamomilla - Use for a toothache with intolerable pain that's worse from warmth and not better with cold. 
Coffea cruda - Use for toothache that worsens with heat and is relieved by ice. 
Ferrum metallicum - Use for a toothache that is relieved by ice water. 
Magnesia carbonica - Use for a toothache that is worse at night, Patient must get up and walk about for relief. 
Magnesia phosphorica - Use for a toothache that is worse from cold and better from warmth. 
Plantago major - Use for a toothache that is better with pressure and worse without cold air. 
Pulsatilla - Use for a toothache that is relieved by holding cold water in the mouth. 
Staphysagria: - Use for pain from major decay of a number of teeth.

TOOTH ERUPTION / TEETHING

Calcarea carbonica - Use for a delayed eruption. 
Chamomilla - Use for difficult teething. 
Zlncum metallicum - Use for teeth gritting during difficult eruption and associated with loose teeth and bleeding gums.

ULCERATIONS

Natrum muriaticum - Use for cold sores and fever blisters. Lips and corners of mouth dry and cracked lips. 
Nitricum acidum - Use for ulcers with irregular edges and a raw appearance with a tendency to bleed easily.

DOSAGE GUIDELINES

Choice of Potency

• When the treatment is prescribed on the basis of local signs and symptoms, prescribe low potencies, under 12X.
• When the treatment is prescribed on the basis of a mixture of local, general, mental and emotional signs and symtoms, prescribe higher potencies, 30X - 200X.

Timing of Remedies

• Low potency remedies (under 12X)
     - first aid every 5-30 minutes
     - acute conditions every 30 minutes to hourly, decreasing to 3-4 times a day
• Medium potency remedies (12X - 30X)
     - one to three times a day
• High potency remedies (30X - 200X)
     - once a day.
• Reduce frequency with improvement

Duration of Action

• The lower the potency, the shorter its duration of action (acute conditions).
• The higher the potency, the longer its duration of action (chronic conditions).

IMPORTANT

These remedies should not be taken as substitutes for proper dental or medical care.  Dental abscesses require urgent treatment.  You must consult your dentist as soon as possible.

If the smell of clove oil reminds you of a trip to the dentist, it’s not surprising. Clove oil (or eugenol for those in the dental world) used to be mixed with zinc oxide to make temporary fillings. The analgesic and antiseptic properties of clove helped to settle sensitive teeth and exposed nerves. Although these materials have been superceded by newer, stronger, more high-tech materials, clove oil is still a very effective treatment for some types of toothache.

A small pellet of cotton wool soaked in full strength clove oil can be gently pushed into a gum pocket to calm down pain due to a gum infection. For a toothache caused by a lost filling or a hole, place the saturated pellet right in the hole. When wisdom teeth cause problems it’s usually because they get stuck partly under the gum, just poke the clove- soaked cotton pellet under the gum flap. It’s also great for post extraction pain. Yes, everything will taste like cloves for a while, but your breath will improve at the same time.

Important note – wisdom tooth infections can be quite dangerous. If your face or jaw is swollen, get to a dentist ASAP. Don’t ever use concentrated clove oil in children’s mouths.

Other Uses:

• Use a few drops of clove oil diluted in a carrier oil, such as sweet almond oil, to soothe insect bites, cuts, scratches and bruises and to help treat fungal infections and athlete’s foot.
• Spray a clove oil and water blend (1/2 tspn to 1 litre of water) onto grout to clean up mould. Scrub stubborn spots with an old toothbrush and bicarb soda first, then spray on clove oil/water blend. Don’t rinse off right away, leave it to do its job for at least a couple of hours if possible.
• Headaches, nausea, depression and insomnia can all be helped by massaging a couple of drops of clove oil, in a carrier oil such as sweet almond, into your temples or your tummy.

You can get a large 100ml bottle of Pure Clove Essential Oil at Gwarehouse.

Toothpaste supposedly works with br

Don’t worry, everybody’s breath is a little off first thing in the morning. This is due mostly to dehydration. We don’t swallow as much in our sleep, we sometimes mouth breathe and we go for several hours without drinking water. This allows more plaque than usual to accumulate and release volatile sulphur compounds, which tend to smell like rotten egg gas. For this reason, it’s a good idea to have a big glass of water before breathing on or speaking to anyone first thing in the morning.

Have you flossed lately? If you haven’t flossed for a while and then decide to clean up your act, you might notice that the plaque you’re removing from between your teeth smells like….poo. There is actually a type of plaque bacteria known as “faecalis” – perhaps that explains it? Plaque also accumulates on your tongue. It can be scraped off with a made-for-the-job tongue scraper – sometimes the only way to get a smoker’s tongue clean again, or you can just use your toothbrush. There’s no need to buy the rubber bristle-backed toothbrushes being pushed as the latest must have mouth gadget, just brush your tongue with a standard toothbrush.

So if you’ve tried drinking more water, flossing and brushing daily, even tongue scraping and things aren’t improving then maybe there’s more to your problem. Consistent and seriously bad breath could well mean you have serious dental problems – periodontal disease or a dead tooth. Other culprits to consider include infected tonsils, gastric reflux, medications which dry your mouth such as antidepressants, diuretics, and of course, smoking.

Wash your mouth out

Most comm ercial mouthwashes only mask the smell temporarily and when used long-term can make the problem worse. This is due to the large alcohol content and additives designed to make the mouthwash taste better and look better on the supermarket shelf. Even the mouthwashes recommended by your dentist can seem to be effective at first, but used long-term can negatively impact on the microbial balance in your mouth.

There are some natural mouthwashes, based on essential oils and containing no synthetic additives, sweeteners or colours, which I would happily recommend but again, using a mouthwash is not going to resolve a deep-seated halitosis. The only way to successfully treat halitosis is to first determine the cause, deal with it and then make the necessary changes to your lifestyle to prevent its recurrence – improve your diet, give up smoking, pay more attention to oral hygiene, use natural dental products free of fluoride, sodium lauryl sulphate and other additives and have your teeth checked regularly.