Can You Cure a Dry Socket With Clove Oil?

Posted on: 31 May 2016

If you're experiencing worsening pain a few days after you have had a tooth extracted, you may have lost the protective blood clot that sits over the wound and may be suffering from a dry socket. When you search for a remedy, you may be advised to try clove oil. How does clove oil affect dry socket pain and should you use it to try to fix the problem?

How Clove Oil Works on a Dry Socket

Clove oil is a traditional alternative remedy for tooth pain. The eugenol that makes up the oil has antibacterial and painkilling properties. If you apply a drop of clove oil to a tooth that aches, you're likely to notice that the oil numbs the tooth, helping kill the pain, and may also work on the source of the infection.

While dry sockets aren't typically a bacterial problem, the numbing effects of clove oil may help reduce your pain. Typically, this pain comes because areas inside the extraction hole, such as nerves and bone, become exposed when they lose the blood clot that seals the hole. This problem may be made worse if food debris gets stuck inside the hole.

Clove oil may help anaesthetise the area, giving you temporary relief from dry socket pain. In fact, when you visit a dentist with a dry socket, your dentist may well pack the wound with a medicated dressing that contains some eugenol to help numb your pain.

How to Apply Clove Oil to a Dry Socket

Before you apply clove oil to your extraction site, it's worth swilling a warm or hot salt water mouthwash around the site. This may wash the wound clean and may also give you a little pain relief.

To apply clove oil to your wound hole, you should take a small piece of clean gauze or cotton and add a drop of the oil to the material. You then need to gently insert this material into the wound to apply the oil to the site. In some cases, you may get quick relief; in others, you may want to leave the material in place for a while until your pain starts to recede.

Can You Fix a Dry Socket Yourself?

If your pain is unbearable and you can't get to the dentist immediately, then applying clove oil may give you useful temporary relief until you get your gum checked out by your dentist. However, it's not a good idea to carry on treating the problem yourself without professional help. The pain you think is coming from a dry socket may also be down to another problem such as an infection that needs a different kind of treatment.

Bear in mind that you also need to be careful how you use clove oil. While applying clove oil mimics the treatment that your dentist may end up giving you if you do have a dry socket, you need to be careful how you apply the oil. Undiluted clove oil may hurt other soft tissues in your mouth, and you need to be careful how much of the oil you use and how often and where you apply it. It's safer to have your dentist decide on an appropriate long-term treatment plan for your pain. Contact a dental clinic like Dental Smile Clinic for more information.

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Managing chronic pain in my back

I was in a car accident nearly a decade ago and I have been in pain ever since. I have tried a lot of different therapies because I don't want to be reliant on pain medication for my whole life. Some of the therapies work really well and some haven't been that effective. This blog is a record of some of the therapies that I have tried as well as some of the therapies my friends and companions from the pain clinic have tried. I hope it's useful for other people who are dealing with chronic pain in their life.

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