Introduction
Toothaches are known to become so intense that it is difficult to bear them any longer. Fortunately, in these cases, one can resort to painkillers, which not only relieve the pain, but can sometimes also inhibit inflammation and lower fever. This article shows what you should know about the treatment of toothache with painkillers.
Which painkillers are used to treat toothache?
Toothache is caused by the excitation of nerve fibers. The excitation of nerve fibers can be caused by e.g. :
- Chemical
- Thermal or
- Mechanical stimuli happen.
The nerve cells then generate an electrical signal and transmit this to the brain via their respective nerve tracts. Here the electrical signal is decoded and perceived as pain.
The sensation of pain is a subjective feeling, i.e. the same symptoms can cause different degrees of pain in different people. Toothache is caused by irritation of the nerve fibers located in the tooth. The responsible nerves originate from the fifth cranial nerve, the trigeminal nerve.
They are ultimately the end branches of its main branches, the nervus maxillaris, which is primarily responsible for the upper jaw and the nervus mandibularis, which supplies the lower jaw nervally via the nervus alveolaris inferior. The nerve fibers within a tooth are chemically irritated by the toxins produced by bacteria during caries, for example, or by mechanical overload during chewing, thus causing pain. Painkillers (analgesics) have the task of relieving pain and thus suppressing the sensation of pain.
A distinction is made between opiod analgesics and non-opiodic analgesics. Opiod analgesics act in the central nervous system (brain + spinal cord). Non-opiodic analgesics act peripherally and not in the central nervous system.
The common painkillers for toothache such as ibuprofen, acetylsalicylic acid (ASS 100), and paracetamol belong to this group. The maximum daily dose for adults is 2. 400 milligrams (mg) per day.
In case of overdose, painkillers have a toxic effect and can lead to liver damage, coma and even death. For this reason, painkillers should only be taken in the long term after consulting a doctor. In general, painkillers should be taken at regular intervals throughout the day as needed.
The most commonly used painkiller for toothache is ibuprofen. The great advantage of ibuprofen is that it has analgesic (analgesic), anti-inflammatory (antiphlogistic) and antipyretic effects. Important here is the additional antiphlogistic effect, as toothache is often associated with inflammatory reactions.
Ibuprofen is freely available in pharmacies up to 400 mg. The maximum daily dose is 1200 mg for children up to 15 years of age and 2400 mg for adults. Due to the mechanism of action, side effects such as inflammation of the stomach lining or kidneys may occur in rare cases.
Acetylsalicylic acid (Aspirin) has analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic effects and, importantly, it is an antiplatelet aggregation agent. This means that the blood does not “clump together” as quickly as normal and therefore you bleed longer in case of injury. An advantage of ASA is its rapid onset of action after only about 15 minutes.
ASA should not be used in children under 16 years of age with febrile illnesses. Similarly, women in pregnancy should only take small amounts of ASA. In high doses ASA can lead to hyperacidity of the organism, which can lead to respiratory paralysis and unconsciousness.
The analgesic paracetamol has analgesic and antipyretic properties. The maximum daily dose of paracetamol is 60 mg/kg body weight. Paracetamol is broken down by the liver.
Overdoses can thus cause liver damage and even liver failure. In summary, it can be said that painkillers for toothache are effective and helpful for short-term pain relief. In case of toothache, ibuprofen is considered the remedy of choice, provided there is no intolerance.
However, painkillers should not be used to avoid a visit to the dentist, but only to bridge the time until then. Pain is always a warning signal from the body that something is wrong. For this reason, a visit to the doctor is always advisable if the toothache persists for a longer period of time.
When taking painkillers, you should pay attention to the side effects and observe the daily maximum dose. Acute toothache can be relieved for the time being by taking various painkillers.In this context, the use of painkillers containing ibuprofen or paracetamol has proven to be particularly effective. The effectiveness of these painkillers is based primarily on the inhibition of cyclooxygenase (COX I and COX II), an enzyme that catalyzes the synthesis of various pain mediators.
In this way, toothache is suppressed at its source. Moreover, painkillers containing the active ingredient paracetamol are not able to reduce inflammatory processes. This fact is the clear advantage of pain therapy with ibuprofen-containing painkillers.
In contrast to paracetamol, the active ingredient ibuprofen has an influence on the development and maintenance of inflammatory processes in the area of the teeth (antiphlogistic effect). However, painkillers for the acute treatment of toothache should only be taken for a short period of time. Patients affected must be aware that the actual cause of the toothache cannot be eliminated in this way.
Visiting a dentist is unavoidable even if the symptoms decrease while taking painkillers. Also the painkiller known as Aspirin can theoretically be used in the form of painkillers for short-term treatment of toothache. However, since this active ingredient has an inhibitory effect on the function of the blood platelets and thus reduces blood clotting, its use for toothache is rather questionable. Due to the increased bleeding tendency, serious incidents can occur during dental therapy. Often the dentist’s view of the treatment area after taking aspirin is so restricted that an adequate therapy is hardly possible.
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