Toothache Remedies From Long Ago
For as long as people have had teeth, there have been toothache and remedies to “cure” them. Here are just a few Old Wives’ Tale remedies.
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The Talmud, a collection of writings that form the basis of religious law in Orthodox Judaism, we “learn” that sour fruit juice may be an aid to mitigating some toothaches.
Some ancient civilizations believed that toothaches were caused by a "toothworm." The Aztecs of Mexico believed that you could get rid of toothworms by chewing on hot chili. An Indian surgeon (circa 650 A.D.), explained that toothworms could be killed by filling the tooth cavity with wax and then burning out the wax with a hot probe. While in ancient Rome, toothworms were expelled by fumigating the mouth with smoke, followed by rinsing.
- Islamic physician, Avicenna, (980-1037), also advocated fumigation for toothache, with the following directions. "Take four grains each of henbane and leek seeds and two and one-half onions; knead these with goat fat until smooth, and from this paste make pills with a weight of one dirham [a silver coin]; burn one pill in a funnel under a covering of the patient's head."
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Pliny the Elder believed that curing a toothache was simple. He suggested catching a frog under a full moon, prying open the frog's mouth, spitting into it and saying, "Frog, go, and take my toothache with thee!"
- In Colonial times, Native Americans used the bark of trees to relieve a toothache. They boiled the bark of a white poplar tree and applied it hot to the tooth in question.
- Other colonial remedies (1747 to 1751) included a month of fasting, chewing cloves; filling the cavity of aching teeth with a piece of garlic, a whole black peppercorn or some salt, or applying a poultice of dried mule's ear (wildflower) leaves.
Today we know that toothaches have a real physiological cause and we are able to remedy them with proven medical treatments. A toothache is no laughing matter and should be addressed as quickly as possible.