Chinese Medicine
Toothache
A tooth that aches, throbs, or hurts with hot, cold or biting. Dr. Pan checks the cause first, then makes a plan. Acupuncture and herbs ease the pain.
Please bring your dentist’s name and any dental X-ray reports, and a list of the medicines, supplements and herbs you take now. It helps to note what sets the pain off: cold, heat, sweets, biting.
First, check the cause
Most toothaches come from decay, a cracked tooth, gum disease, or an infection at the root (an abscess).
How it is treated
- Dental care: a filling, a root canal, treatment of the gums, or taking out the tooth. This is what fixes it.
- Antibiotics from your dentist or doctor, if there is an infection.
- Pain medicine while you wait: ibuprofen, acetaminophen, or the two together work well, if they are safe for you.
- Acupuncture: very thin needles. A long-established way to ease tooth pain in Chinese medicine, it gets you through until you see the dentist.
- Chinese herbs, prescribed for your pattern, to ease swollen, painful gums. They are checked against the medicines you already take.
How many visits
Usually one or two visits, to get you through until you see the dentist. If the pain keeps coming back after dental care, Dr. Pan looks for other causes.
Common questions
Can acupuncture help while I wait for the dentist?
Yes — it eases the pain meanwhile.
Could my tooth pain be something else?
Sometimes. The sinuses, a nerve in the face, or the jaw joint can cause pain that feels like a toothache. If the dentist finds nothing, Dr. Pan looks further.
Read next
Seen in King of Prussia
Patients travel from King of Prussia, Wayne, Bryn Mawr, Villanova, Radnor, Conshohocken, Malvern, Phoenixville, Devon and Berwyn.