Dentemp
Keep a temporary filling kit at home
If a filling falls out or a crown comes loose at 10 p.m., a pharmacy-shelf repair kit can patch the hole or hold the crown, keeping food and cold out until you can get in.
Step 2 of 4 · Get through tonight
Relief tonight
Most toothaches can be calmed enough to get through the night. These pages cover what works, what to skip, and when to stop waiting.
Dentist's picks
What a dentist would tell you to get
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Reusable face cold pack (Amazon)
Keep a reusable cold pack in the freezer
Cold on the cheek is one of the few toothache remedies medical sources agree on, and a soft reusable pack shapes to the jaw better than a bag of ice.
The TeleDentists
For a dentist's opinion tonight, a video visit
The TeleDentists connect you with a licensed dentist by video at any hour, for a flat fee they list as $64 without insurance.
- What to do for a toothache right nowSteps that calm a toothache tonight: pain relievers, cold, rinsing, what to skip, and how to tell if it can wait until morning or needs care now.
- Toothache home remedies: what works, what doesn't, and what's riskySalt water, cold packs, pain relievers, numbing gel, clove oil and old tricks like aspirin or whiskey, checked against medical sources.
- How to sleep with a toothache: what actually helpsA bedtime routine for a toothache: head up, a cold pack, a pain reliever timed right, and the mistakes that keep you awake. Plus when not to wait for morning.
- Lost a filling or crown: what to do tonightWhat to do when a filling or crown falls out: how to protect the tooth tonight, what not to use, and how soon to see a dentist.
- Broken or chipped tooth: what to do right nowWhat to do in the first hour after you chip, break or knock out a tooth, what to skip, and how a dentist usually repairs it.
- Build a home dental emergency kit: what a dentist would put in itA short checklist of what to keep at home for a lost filling, a chipped or knocked-out tooth, or a toothache that starts at night.
- Can a virtual dentist help after hours? What teledentistry can and can't doWhat a video visit with a dentist can do at night, what it can't, what it costs, and when to skip it and go to the ER.
- Do you need antibiotics for a toothache? What they can and can't doWhy most toothaches don't need antibiotics, the signs of a spreading infection that do, why leftover pills are a bad idea, and what helps tonight.
- Wisdom teeth removal recovery: day-by-day timeline and tipsWhat's normal in the days after wisdom teeth come out: bleeding, swelling, eating, brushing, pain relief, and the signs that mean call your surgeon.