Survival Medicine... a pain in the...

[Jonas Parker]

mouth! We talk a lot about fractures, lacerations, etc. What's the best gear for the plain old toothache/lost filling/broken dentures - all that stuff I didn't learn as a surgical tech/paramedic. Do we have any dentists out there willing to share some tips?

[tedbo]

Jonas,I had a tooth bother me real bad many years ago and it was 2 days before the dentist could see me.He told me to get a tube of Oral-gel and wax.Squirt a dab or 2 or 3 on the tooth and have a piece of warmed up wax to form over it like a cap.It worked great!The Oral-gel numbed the tooth and the wax kept the Oral-gel on/in the tooth and the crud out of the tooth.This with a buffered aspirin let me not miss work and still function at a fairly reasonable level.
I also know of a nerve point that is in the web of your hand between the 1st knuckle of the index finger and the 1st knuckle of the thumb.A steady pressure on that nerve will lessen the toothache,if not make it go away for a while.
It is a case of mind over matter-I have no mind so it don't matter!:rolleyes:

[adobewalls]

I'm stretching my memory a bit here, but I believe an old home remedy called for cloves or clove oil for toothaches.

Also to help protect against or mitigate infection, Hydrogen Peroxide could be used as a mouth wash.

On a more modern note, I have seen temporary remedies for tooth and mouth problems generally available in drug stores that are designed to tie you over for a few days until you can see a dentist.