Toothache? Get Relief Now and Find the Cause.
A toothache can be a dull ache that comes and goes, a sharp pain when you bite, or a severe, throbbing pain that keeps you up at night. Home care can take the edge off. But pain coming from the tooth itself usually needs treatment, so real relief starts with finding the cause. We keep time open every weekday for emergencies here in Spring Hope, so call or text (252) 478-3422 and we’ll do our best to see you the same day.
Written by the Spring Hope Family Dentistry team and reviewed by Dr. Elie Abboud, DDS, based on guidance from the American Dental Association, the American Association of Endodontists, Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic.
Toothache Relief: What to Do Right Now
These steps can ease tooth pain at home until we see you. They won’t fix the cause, so call us even if the pain settles down.
Ease the pain at home
- Rinse your mouth with warm water.
- If food is stuck, gently floss it out. Don’t dig or force it.
- Take ibuprofen or acetaminophen as the label directs.
- Hold ice wrapped in a towel on the outside of your jaw for about 20 minutes, several times a day. Use cold, not heat.
- Rinse with warm salt water: half a teaspoon of salt in 8 ounces of warm water. Swish for about 30 seconds, then spit.
Go easy on the tooth
- Stick to soft foods.
- Chew on the other side of your mouth.
- Skip anything sweet, very hot or very cold.
- Don’t smoke.
If it’s your child
Skip the salt water rinse for young children, since they may swallow it. Don’t give aspirin to anyone under 16 unless their doctor says to.
For pain, acetaminophen and ibuprofen are the usual first choices for children, dosed by age and weight. Follow the label or ask your pharmacist. Never use a numbing gel with benzocaine on a child under 2, and call us so we can find the cause.
Choosing a pain reliever: ibuprofen, alone or with acetaminophen, is the American Dental Association’s first choice for dental pain in anyone 12 and older. Take each one as the label directs, and ask your pharmacist or your dentist before you combine them. Check with your doctor before taking ibuprofen if you take blood thinners, have had stomach ulcers or bleeding, a heart attack or a stroke, or have heart or kidney disease or asthma. If you’re pregnant or have liver disease, ask your doctor before taking either one. With acetaminophen, use only one product that contains it at a time, and don’t take it if you have three or more alcoholic drinks a day.
Pain started after a chip, a crack or a lost filling? See our pages on a broken or cracked tooth and a lost filling or crown, or our emergency dentistry page for other emergencies.
What Not to Do
Some common toothache fixes do more harm than good, or just hide the problem for a while. Skip these.
- Don’t put aspirin or any painkiller on your gum. A pill held against the sore tooth or gum can burn the tissue. Swallow it as the label directs.
- Don’t give aspirin to kids. Anyone under 16 should skip it unless their doctor says otherwise.
- Be careful with numbing gels. Gels with benzocaine have been linked to a rare blood condition that can be deadly. Ask your dentist or doctor before you use one, and never use it on a child under 2.
- Skip the clove oil. It’s left out of current first-aid advice from the American Dental Association and Cleveland Clinic. It can burn your gums and affect blood clotting, and it’s toxic to children if swallowed.
- Don’t wait it out because the pain stopped. Sometimes a toothache fades because the nerve inside the tooth has died, while the infection keeps spreading.
- Don’t count on antibiotics to fix it. A toothache that stays inside the tooth probably doesn’t need them, and they can’t fix a tooth infection on their own. Treating the tooth does, for example with a root canal, which cleans out the inside of the tooth and seals it.
ER, Urgent Care or Dentist?
Go to the emergency room or call 911 if:
- You’re having trouble breathing, swallowing or speaking
- Swelling is spreading toward your eye, down your neck, or under your jaw and tongue
- You’re drooling, or swelling makes it hard to open your mouth
- You have a fever of 100.4°F or higher with a swollen face
- You feel confused
- Bleeding won’t stop with firm pressure
- Your jaw won’t close normally, or you think it’s broken
Call 911 if jaw or tooth pain comes with chest discomfort, shortness of breath or light-headedness. It can be a heart attack. When you’re this sick, don’t drive yourself. Have someone take you, or call 911.
For everything else, call a dentist first. The ER can give you medicine, but it can’t repair teeth. It doesn’t do fillings or crowns (caps that cover a damaged tooth), and urgent care clinics usually don’t have a dentist on hand either. Both can still help with pain until we open. If the pain is so bad that medicine isn’t helping, call us right away. If we’re closed, that’s a reason to go to the ER.
After hours or on a weekend? Text us at (252) 478-3422 and we’ll reply as soon as we’re open. Keep up the home care until then. If your face is swelling or you have a fever and you can’t reach us, go to the ER. If it’s pain that medicine isn’t helping, urgent care or the ER can help until we open. If any of the warning signs above show up, don’t wait for us. Go to the nearest emergency room or call 911.
What Your Tooth Pain Is Telling You
How a tooth hurts can hint at the cause. This can’t replace an exam, but it can help you decide how soon to call.
| What you feel | What it often means, and the usual fix |
|---|---|
| A quick twinge from something hot or cold that fades in a few secondsSensitivity | Usually minor. Mention it at your next visit, or sooner if it starts to linger. |
| Pain from hot or cold that lingers more than 30 secondsPulp damage | The pulp, the soft tissue inside the tooth that holds its nerve, is likely damaged. Usual fix: a root canal, soon. |
| A sharp pain when you bite downPain on biting | Decay, a loose filling or a crack in the tooth. Usual fix: a filling or crown, or a root canal if the damage reaches the pulp. |
| Throbbing pain with swelling, a fever or a bad taste in your mouthPossible abscess | A pocket of pus from an infection may have formed. Usual fix: draining it, a root canal or removing the tooth. Antibiotics alone don’t fix it. See our tooth abscess page. |
| Pain around a back tooth, with a sore, swollen flap of gum over itPericoronitis | An inflamed, often infected gum flap over a wisdom tooth that has only partly come in. Usual fix: flushing out under the flap, sometimes antibiotics, or removing the tooth. See our wisdom tooth pain page. |
Sources: American Association of Endodontists, tooth pain and cracked teeth; Mayo Clinic, tooth abscess; Cleveland Clinic, pericoronitis.
Tooth pain that comes and goes is easy to put off. Pain that flares up when you chew, or with hot and cold, then settles down again, can be a sign of a cracked tooth. Cracks don’t heal on their own, so if the pain keeps coming back, have it checked, even if it’s quiet today.
When to See a Dentist for a Toothache
Call us right away if your toothache comes with any of these:
- Pain that lasts more than a day or two
- A fever
- Pain when you bite down
- Red gums
- A foul-tasting discharge
- Swelling
Sore gums from irritation can settle down on their own. Pain coming from the tooth itself usually needs treatment, and if it’s an infection, how fast it spreads is hard to predict. That’s why we’d rather see it early.
We keep time open every weekday for emergencies, and we’ll do our best to see you the same day. Our hours are Monday 7:30 to 4:30, Tuesday and Wednesday 7:30 to 5:30, and Thursday and Friday 7:30 to 3:30. We’re closed weekends. Calling or texting (252) 478-3422 first is the fastest way in. Walk in if you need to, and we’ll fit you in as the day allows.
How We Find the Cause and Stop the Pain
Pain relievers buy you time, but treating the cause is what usually ends the pain. Here’s how a toothache visit with us goes.
- 1
We listen, then take a close look
Tell us where it hurts, what sets it off and how long it’s been going on. Dr. Abboud or Dr. Hilary will check the tooth and the gums around it, and may tap on the tooth or test how it reacts to cold.
- 2
We take X-rays
X-rays help us see inside the tooth and the bone around it. When we need more detail, like with a possible crack or a wisdom tooth, our 3D X-ray scanner (cone beam CT, or CBCT) can help too.
- 3
We treat the source of the pain, the same visit when we can
Depending on what we find, that may be a filling, starting a root canal to clean out the damaged pulp, or removing a tooth that can’t be saved. Dr. Abboud and Dr. Hilary both do root canals, back teeth included, and extractions, including wisdom teeth, so most toothaches are treated right here in the office.
- 4
You get your options and the price in writing
We’ll show you what we found and explain your choices. Before we start any treatment, you’ll get the exact price in writing, and you decide.
- 5
Nervous? We can help you relax
Tell us if dental visits make you anxious. We offer laughing gas (nitrous oxide) and oral sedation, a calming medicine you take by mouth. We don’t offer IV sedation or general anesthesia. Read more about sedation dentistry and how we care for nervous patients.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will a toothache go away on its own?
The pain might fade, but that doesn’t mean the problem is gone. Gum irritation can settle down on its own. Pain coming from the tooth itself usually needs treatment. A toothache that suddenly stops can even mean the nerve inside the tooth has died while an infection keeps spreading. If it has lasted more than a day or two, have it checked.
Can I take ibuprofen and acetaminophen together?
The American Dental Association lists ibuprofen, alone or with acetaminophen, as the first choice for dental pain in anyone 12 and older. The U.S. National Library of Medicine says to combine them only on a doctor’s advice, so ask your pharmacist or your dentist first. Check with your doctor before taking ibuprofen if you take blood thinners, have had stomach ulcers or bleeding, a heart attack or a stroke, or have heart or kidney disease or asthma. If you’re pregnant or have liver disease, ask your doctor before taking either one.
Do I need antibiotics for a toothache?
Probably not, if the problem is still inside the tooth. Antibiotics can’t remove the cause of a tooth infection. Treating the tooth does, such as with a root canal. Antibiotics are used when an infection is spreading, like swelling moving into your face or neck, when you have a fever or feel unwell, or when your immune system is weak.
Should I go to the ER for a toothache?
Go to the ER, or call 911, if you have trouble breathing, swallowing or speaking, you’re drooling, swelling is spreading toward your eye or down your neck, swelling makes it hard to open your mouth, you have a fever of 100.4°F or higher with a swollen face, you feel confused, or bleeding won’t stop with firm pressure. If jaw or tooth pain comes with chest discomfort, shortness of breath or light-headedness, call 911, because it can be a heart attack. Otherwise, call a dentist first. The ER can give you medicine, but it doesn’t do fillings or crowns, so the tooth will still need a dentist.
Is a toothache a dental emergency?
It can be. A swollen face, a fever, or pain that medicine doesn’t help means you need care right away. A milder toothache that lasts more than a day or two still needs a dentist soon. Not sure which one you have? Call or text us at (252) 478-3422 and we’ll help you decide.
Does a root canal hurt?
According to the American Association of Endodontists, a root canal is no more painful than getting a filling, and it relieves the pain that brought you in. It usually takes one or two visits, and the tooth usually gets a crown, a cap that covers and protects it, afterward. If you’re nervous, we offer laughing gas and oral sedation.
Why does my tooth hurt when I bite down?
Sharp pain when you bite points to decay, a loose filling or a crack in the tooth. A cracked tooth can also hurt as you let go of the bite, because the pieces move and irritate the pulp, the soft tissue inside the tooth. Cracks don’t heal on their own, so have it checked soon and chew on the other side until then.
What does it cost to treat a toothache?
It depends on what’s causing the pain, so we find that first. For new patients, the emergency exam and X-ray is $99, and VIP Plan members get one emergency exam a year included. If you need treatment, you’ll get the exact price in writing before we start, and we’ll file your insurance for you. Payment plans are available through Cherry, Sunbit and CareCredit.
Do I have to be a patient of yours to be seen?
No. Call or text (252) 478-3422, tell us what’s going on, and we’ll do our best to see you the same day. We see emergency patients from Spring Hope, Nashville, Rocky Mount, Wilson and the towns around them.
What can I do for my child’s toothache?
Rinse with warm water and give acetaminophen or ibuprofen dosed by your child’s age and weight, as the label directs. Skip the salt water rinse, since young kids may swallow it. Don’t give aspirin to anyone under 16 unless their doctor says to, and never use a benzocaine numbing gel on a child under 2. Then call us.
Toothache Care for Spring Hope and Nearby Towns
We see toothaches from Spring Hope, Nashville (about 10 minutes), Rocky Mount (about 15), Wilson (about 20), Zebulon, Bailey and Middlesex, Bunn, Louisburg, Castalia, Elm City and Lake Royale. Call ahead and we’ll have a room ready.
Toothache? Call Us First.
We keep time open every weekday for emergencies. The sooner we find what’s causing the pain, the sooner we can treat it.