Natural Homemade Compress For Relieving Your Symptoms After A Root Canal

After a root canal, you may experience some pain in your tooth and swelling in the surrounding gums. If so, use the following natural, homemade compress to relieve your symptoms and prevent infection using ingredients found in pharmacies and grocery stores.

What You Will Need

Before making your compress, gather the supplies and ingredients listed below.

  • Small bowl
  • One 2x2-inch gauze
  • Three tablespoons of water
  • One tablespoon of salt
  • Two drops of clove essential oil
  • Five drops of peppermint essential oil
  • Small glass of cool water

The salt used in the treatment acts as an anti-inflammatory that pulls the inflammation out of the gums. It also kills germs around the root canal site, helping to prevent infection.

The clove and peppermint oils soothe the pain by numbing the nerves in the tooth and gums on contact. The peppermint oil also gives the compress a slightly better flavor.

When using the clove oil, make sure you use the amount listed above. While it does help with the pain, using too much undiluted oil can cause irritation if you are sensitive to it. If you are allergic to cloves, you can omit the oil and increase the peppermint oil's amount by two drops.

Directions

Once you have what you need, follow the direction below to make and use the compress.

  1. Mix the water and salt together in the bowl, allowing time for the salt to dissolve completely.
  2. Add the oils to the salt water mixture and stir thoroughly.
  3. Place the gauze in the bowl to saturate it.
  4. Remove the gauze and wring it out slightly.
  5. Fold the gauze lengthwise then in half to form four layers.
  6. Rinse your mouth with cool water to remove any food particles.
  7. Place the compress directly on the tooth.
  8. Gently bite down on the compress to hold it in place. Do not bite too hard or grind your teeth because the fabric of the gauze could irritate your already sore gums.
  9. Keep the compress in for the amount of time you would normally use an ice pack, about 10 minutes.
  10. Remove the compress.
  11. Rinse your mouth with cool water.

Using the above natural treatment should help relieve your symptoms. However, if you start to have an increase in pain and inflammation, you may want to contact your dentist who performed the root canal therapy. They may want to examine the tooth and prescribe other treatment options for your symptoms.

For more information, contact Michels & Gauquie Cosmetic and Family Dentistry or a similar location.

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