| 5 star (131) | 88% | |
| 4 star (8) | 5% | |
| 3 star (2) | 1% | |
| 1 star (4) | 3% | |
 (4) | 3% |
Homegirl (San Juan, Puerto Rico) on 07/01/2011: 
Rose (Seattle, Washington, Usa) on 05/22/2011:
Love this site!
Kelly (Cambridge, Ma) on 05/12/2011:
You didn't mention how much garlic you've been taking. I used fresh garlic. Chop up one good sized clove and let it sit for about 10 min's, then put it on a spoon to take it and wash it down with lots of water.
I did this three times a day and in about 3-4 days, the swelling and pain were completely gone. I can't say enough about the use of garlic for these type issues. Truly amazing.
Ilya (Los Angeles, Ca) on 05/09/2011:
For some reason painkillers he prescribed me have almost no effect, unless I double the doze and Penicillin takes 1-2 days to even start wokring. I was in horrible pain with stomach full of usless drugs when I found this forum. Needless to say I stuck a garlic glove right in my mouth and let me tell ya, the pain is GONE... almost instantly and swelling seems to be getting better.
Thanks everyone for the advice, I hope I can sleep better tonight :)
Kay (In The Valley, Ca) on 03/25/2011:
Viola (Hampton Bays, N.y.) on 03/24/2011:
Susan (Owen Sound, Ontario, Ontario Canada) on 02/10/2011:
Mike (Madison, Ms) on 02/02/2011:
They are not kidding when they say it burns, but I paced around the house and after about 10 minutes the burning subsided mostly. I kept in in there for ten more minutes then chewed it up and swallowed the pieces. RELIEF! I can still feel the huge bump on my gum which is uncomfortable but nothing like the tooth and gum pain I had before I did that.
I will have to see what happens now as far as the abcess shrinking and my left cheek draining - it is full and swollen, but I wanted to quickly post just to let people know that the relief is amazing. Hope it continues to heal.
Thanks to everyone who has posted before to tell me of this natural remedy.
Tara (Savannah, Ga.) on 01/24/2011:
Mominmaine (Waterville, Maine) on 12/14/2010:
I cant stress how much clove oil has saved me from those sleepless nights, and awful pains. The only other thing that has worked for a little while was natural vanilla extract. I did the same thing, q-tip dipped in the vanilla, but I would take the cotton off the q-tip, and press it against my tooth or gums. I really hope this helps someone out there.. This pain, and having to deal with tooth pain/infection/abcess is the WORST! Btw, garlic works wonders for colds and sinus infections too!
Katrinika (Morehead City, Nc, Usa) on 12/09/2010:
Anyway, my dog is going in for dental surgery next week, but today I'm going to go buy some oily fish, more garlic, and some tumeric, grind then together, add some agave nectar, form it into 1 inch balls, freeze them and then give them to her three times a day to chew on. Maybe by next week I will have saved myself the cost of the antibiotic I know the vet will otherwise certainly have recommended. Plus, I've found a doggie toothpaste made only from baking soda, almond oil, and beeswax that works better than anything I've ever used before (even the treacherous dental enzyme). I won't fall behind on her tooth brushing in future. Blessings and thank you to all the garlic folks.
Dee (Burke, Va) on 11/15/2010:
Sleighb7 (Barrie, Ontario, Canada) on 11/05/2010:
Misstammy (Ottawa, On, Canada ) on 08/29/2010:
**People have mentioned the burning sensation, let me tell you right now. It is NOTHING compared to the intense pain that was already there, in fact it was soothing so do not be worried too much about it, but if it is burning a lot perhaps you are leaving it on for too long**
When I was satisfied with the pain relief inside my mouth I gently chewed the garlic to release more of the oils. Within 15 minutes the pain which even Advil did not kill was gone! I was amazed! After I was done doing this I rinsed my mouth out with sea salt and water to prevent the garlic from burning the skin inside my mouth (suggested by a friend). ~I also decided to make a mouthwash that would provide the same type of relief I got from the garlic and it also worked immediately! Here is what I did:
4 cloves of garlic (minced) or chopped very fine
1 half tea spoon of Cumin
1 teaspoon of Sea Salt
1 and a half cups of boiling water
I took all the ingredients and placed them in a bowl, I then added the boiled water to the mixture and stirred it up. After the mixture cooled down a little I would take enough to fill my mouth and would gargle it so that some entered my throat, I would also swish it between and around the teeth and gums vigorously and gently chew the baby pieces of garlic. Instant relief!! *I also sipped on the mixture, just enough to get some of the stuff in my throat as it was also swollen pretty badly. I did this last night at 3:00am and it is now the next morning. The swelling has gone down almost completely and there is only a very dull pain, I will continue to use this throughout the day and I am also at work, which I though would be impossible. Thank you everyone who posted with regards to this topic, the comments that I read literally saved me about $40.00 in medication and a possible medical bill which I cannot really afford at this time!! Xoxox Love Miss Tammy
Finally Pain Free (Twin City, Georgia) on 04/08/2010: 
Awesome site....
Ariel (Bend, Oregon Usa) on 03/23/2010:
Rifkah6 (Lancaster, Uk) on 03/12/2010:
I am amazed at the potency of garlic as a nautural antibiotic, and although I had always been aware of this property, I am stunned at how well it has worked on a particularly nasty gum abscess that I had been suffering from.
To cut a long story short(er), I have a grumbling wisdom tooth on my lower right side, and the flap that was partially covering it became infected about 2 weeks ago. By the wednesday of the first week I went to the dentist who informed me that the particularly nasty case of pericoronitis I had would not clear without antibiotics, even using the hot salt water rinses that have cleared more superficial abscesses for me in the past. By the Wednesday evening, I could hardly open my mouth, and I could feel the infection spreading into the muscles that hinged my upper and lower jaws. I knew it was a very deep abscess, but I was determined not to use the antibiotics as I am very much against the routine use of antibiotics unless in emergency situations.
So I commenced with the salt water rinses, echinacea, oil pulling with tea tree and sunflower/sesame oil to arrest the infection, and ibuprofen for the pain. These were working well enough, but, i.e I could feel that the infection was being drawn somewhat out of my jaw muscles over the next few days. I continued this course of action until the Sunday, when I decided to add grapefruit seed extract into the mix. This helped somewhat although worked no major miracles, and by the Tuesday I was ready to try terramin clay packed over the abscess overnight. This seemed to work well as on the Wednesday morning the abscess had come to a head and burst (uber gross!), but it was still inflamed and I could feel the infection was still there. But I continued with the terramin and the rest of my protocol over the next day, and yet again by the Thursday morning the abscess had refilled over night and now had not just one head on it but two!
At this point I came across garlic as a possible magic bullet - this was a real "aha!" moment, cos i knew of garlics efficacy as a natural antibiotic, but I just hadn't considered putting it on my abscess. So i went straight and mashed up some garlic in my pestle and mortar and placed some of the mash on my abscess and drank the rest down with some water. My god, the pain was incredible, so much so that I could not sit still and had to walk around the house inbetween rushing to the bathroom to get rid of the excess saliva my mouth was producing, but I knew that the garlic was getting to work and killing the infection.
Within 12 hours the abscess had reduced by half, and this morning it is looking pretty grizzly, but is almost back to it's normal gum profile with no pain and no refilling with that god awful pus. I am continuing with the garlic protocol until I am sure this is completely healed (and the oil pulling too as i think this is invaluable for gum health), but all other treatments I feel are now unnecessary - garlic is the magic bullet for oral problems :o)
All in all, I think that the salt water rinses, oil pulling, echinacea, grapefuit seed extract and terramin arrested the infection and drew it to the surface of my gum, but it was the garlic that actually killed it.
Drugfree (Trenton, Nj, USA) on 12/21/2009:
Lashonda (Atlantic City, New Jersey) on 11/21/2009:
I have been to the hospital on several occassions for this. Each time, they prescribed me clyndamycin (I pray that is spelled correctly) because I am allergic to pennicilin. Needless to say, I would have to take those for 15 days consecutive until all the antibiotic was gone..The pain killers they gave to me were Percocet, Oxycodone, Tylenol 3, and Vicondon.( not all in one, separate times) All of these made me sick.
What gets me is once I believe that one abscess has gone away, another pops up. This is the reason that I can not get the surgery yet. Not to mention, I am self employed and currently do not possess health and dental insurance. Paying for hospital bills and medication has strained my pocketbook, dress slacks, and bank accounts...
There have been way too many times that I suffered sleepless nights, missed meals, and tears from the excruciating pain. I am telling you, the pain was so bad that I often suffered hearing loss, eye and headaches(on the infected side), chest and arm pain. This pain was so bad that I called my mother in North Carolina a few times. I have never experienced such pain in my life. I'd rather have a million babies than to sufffer tooth pain..
What brought me to this site was after viewing my finances and my medication, I knew I couldn't afford to go to the hospital nor pay for the medicine.I had just taken my last antibiotic and the swelling and pain started all over again. On last night, I googled home made antibiotics for tooth abscess and this site was on the top of the search engine. I heard about clove oil was good, but when I saw garlic here, further reading was needed..
As I begin to read others story, many of them I related to. Thank you everyone for your testimonies. Most people said use fresh garlic. Well I didn't have fresh garlic in my home. I tried the next best thing. GARLIC POWDER. It did burn at first even throbbed a little. But after the burning the pain went away. I went to sleep and woke up with most of the swelling gone. I repeated the process again when I woke up this morning, once this afternoon, and doing it now as I type.
Garlic works in any form I believe. The pain is gone, but the swelling is still there but not as much. Most people say do it for three days. That is advice I will continue to use.
Downside to using garlic is bad breath. But when you are in pain, bad breath is the least of worries. I didn't have to do much speaking or talking so that was a blessing. If any of you know what I can do to get rid of the garlic breath, please inform me. Everything I eat has a garlic backdrop to it...don't like that too much.
Dalene (Johannesburg, South Africa) on 11/20/2009:
Jo (Hemet, Ca) on 10/17/2009:
Then, at 2am on the fourth night, I finally checked in to EC. I saw the garlic cures for pain...as I did not have a fresh clove, but did have some chopped garlic in a jar, I immediately went to work. Scooped a teaspoon full and dropped in right onto to tooth. Ahhh...instant relief from the pain.
Next, I had to deal with getting the infection drawn to the surface. Tried the teabag. Just wet a regular old, cheap, black tea bag and put it directly on my gum and closed my mouth over it. I was able to grab some sleep for about 4 hours. A ringing phone woke me up at about noon. While talking on the phone, I felt a huge lump that had form next to my tooth. Quick...checked the mirror, the infection had surfaced.
I sterilized a needle, and one quick poke.....it started draining. 20 minutes and a bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide later.....DONE. I had my mouth open the whole time...cleaning with the HP and Q-tips.
I was able to attend a community dinner that evening at 5pm and definitely ate my share of hamburger, salads and banana splits....lol I was completely healed with absolutely no pain. Amazing.
As a preventative measure, I have since been mixing a 1/2 a teaspoon of Tumeric into a shot of vegetable juice...just to ward off any more infections.
Thank you EC! You and your posters have saved my life more than once.
Rebecca (Vallejo, Ca) on 10/15/2009:
I just wanted to say thank you to eveyone who took the time to post their experiences and remedies on this site. I am one of those lucky people who do not have dental insurance, I have medi-cal but they no longer provide dental care for adults. Ever since I had my kids I keep getting cavities which I had never had before. Any way, my teeth are not in the best condition and recently I took a trip to the emergency room for an abscessed tooth that I had. I took the full ten day dose of penicilin that they gave me. When the prescription ran out my abscess returned immediately, which means it was never gone, it was just reduced. I decide to hit the internet to research some natural remedies and stumbled upon this site. After reading all of the suggestions I went to my kitchen to see what I had. I had plenty of fresh garlic as well as several different kinds of tea. I sliced the fresh garlic and placed it in between my gum and cheek, right up against the abscess. It burned for the first few minutes. I replaced the garlic like seven times that night. Then when I finally went to bed I placed a tea bag against my gum in my cheek as well. First I used a green tea bag becuase that was what was reccomended but I remembered the caffeine and replaced it whith a camomile tea bag. When I woke up my mouth felt much better but I could tell the infection was still there. I went to work and did not mess with it for the first part of the day. In the afternoon I did the garlic slices two times to help with the swelling. When I got home the abscess was big again and I was getting ready to do the garlic again. I went in to the bathroom to look at it and I could see that the pus was closer to the surface. Then all of a sudden it opened up and snot colored pus and a little blood came out. I rinsed my mouth with hydrogen peroxide twice and then water. The garlic and tea bag did in 24 hrs. what penicilin could not do in ten days!!! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Amanda (Seattle, Wa) on 08/24/2009:
Garlic. Use it.
I have had a tooth abscess on my lower jaw due to an unfinished root canal I had 9 months ago. Its swollen with pus and the pain has almost been unbearable. I'm one of those lucky ones with no insurance, medical, dental or otherwise and I became so desperate that I actually tried to drain the abscess myself with a needle and some otc pain reliever.
It was too painful and very difficult to hold my mouth open at the same time.
Then, upon stumbling to this site, I discovered something quite wonderful. GARLIC. A whole clove. Cut in half. I knew it was gonna burn, but #%$&!
Be prepared for pain. Especially if you've cut your gum up with a needle. I could only keep the garlic on initially for like 5 seconds, but every time I made myself do it a little longer with a little more and WHALA.
About an hour later i can hold the whole clove in my mouth, cut side against the abscess and I can tell you now, that the swelling has already decreased SIGNIFICANTLY.
Consider me impressed. I'm going to continue with this and hope it actually removes some of the abscess. Thank God for this site.
GARLIC FOR THE WIN.
Michael (Denver, CO) on 05/31/2009:
Yesterday, my gum flared up again and became worse over night. After reading these posts, I immediately went to the store for garlic. I chopped a 1/4 inch slice from the clove and placed it between my cheek and teeth. I spit out the slice after five minutes and could close my mouth without biting my cheek and gums! I replaced the slice with another, and another. When the burning stopped, I would gently chew the garlic to release more juice, when the garlic breaks up I replace it with a new slice. After a half hour, my pain has been cut in half and the swelling has gone down 75%. It is working beautifully. Thank you to those who posted their experiences.
Monet (Cincinnati, Ohio ) on 05/02/2009:
Recently, my feet started swelling along with blood pressure spiking to very high levels. I do not have high blood pressure so I could not understand what was going on. By day three I figured out I had a tooth infection that was probably starting to seep into my blood causing the swelling, blood pressure spikes, tingling in head, legs, and feet. After speaking with a dentist who felt they were unrelated and would not give me any advice on whether I should go to the ER, I decided to use garlic infused with yogurt (yogurt helps it go down easier). I took about 1 T. of crushed garlic and 1 T. of yogurt. Within 5 minutes the swelling in my feet went away and I felt my blood pressure had gone down. I took my blood pressure and it had dropped over 50 points! Obviously, the blood pressure spikes were brought on by the tooth infection, unbeknownst to the young Dentist!!!
I cook with garlic all of the time, but RAW GARLIC is terrific for blood pressure and infections!!!
Thanks!
bxmom (ny, ny) on 04/03/2009:
Leila (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) on 03/03/2009:
Garlic worked wonders! I chewed it and pressed the pulp against the 'hole' between my teeth.It stung so badly, I had tears in my eyes, but after 5 minutes the pain had subsided. Am absolutely overjoyed! Will continue to treat with garlic, I have a really good feeling about it. Thank you!
Jennie (Fort Wayne, IN) on 02/25/2009:
Wendy (Moose Jaw, SK.) on 02/24/2009:
Dean (Kansas City, MO) on 02/16/2009:
