For toothache relief while you wait for a dental appointment, the NHS advises taking ibuprofen or paracetamol, using a pain-relieving mouth gel, and rinsing with warm salt water.¹ None of that treats the cause. Toothache is a symptom, and it will keep coming back until a dentist finds out what is behind it.

What you can do right now

If you are awake with tooth pain and waiting for an appointment, this is what the NHS advises.¹
Do:

  • Take painkillers — ibuprofen or paracetamol. A pharmacist can advise you on what is suitable. Children under 16 should not take aspirin.
  • Use a pain-relieving gel for your mouth. These are sold in pharmacies and supermarkets.
  • Rinse with warm salt water. Children should not do this, in case they swallow it.
  • Eat soft foods — yoghurt, scrambled eggs — and avoid chewing on the sore side.
  • Use a soft toothbrush and avoid flossing around the painful tooth.

Don’t:

  • Do not eat anything sweet, very hot or very cold.
  • Do not smoke. It can make some dental problems worse.

How to rinse with salt water

Dissolve half a teaspoon of salt in a glass of warm water — warm water helps the salt dissolve. Rinse your mouth with it, then spit it out. Do not swallow it. Repeat as often as you like.¹
That is the whole list. It is short because there is not much that genuinely helps. Every bit of pain relief on it is for getting you through until you are seen — not instead of being seen. None of it will stop toothache for good.

When toothache is an emergency

Go to A&E if you have toothache and:

  • The area around your eye or your neck is swollen
  • Swelling in your mouth or neck is making it difficult for you to breathe, swallow or speak.

Do not drive to A&E. Ask someone to drive you or call 999 and ask for an ambulance. Bring any medicines you take with you.¹
A dental infection that starts spreading into the face and neck is not a dental problem any more. Those two signs are the ones to watch for, and they are the reason this section is here.

When toothache means you need to see a dentist

The NHS says to see a dentist if your toothache:¹

  • lasts more than 2 days.
  • does not go away when you take painkillers.
  • comes with a high temperature, pain when you bite, red gums, or a bad taste in your mouth.
  • comes with a swollen cheek or jaw.

Do not go to your GP. The NHS is explicit about this: a GP cannot give you dental treatment.¹
If you do not have a dentist or you cannot get an emergency appointment, call 111 or use 111 online — they can advise you what to do next.¹ ³
In England, urgent NHS dental treatment costs £27.90 — the same as a check-up. That covers an examination and assessment, X-rays where needed, a temporary filling, emergency partial root canal treatment, treatment for infection and some other urgent care. Anything further is charged separately.²

Why does my tooth hurt?

Toothache causes are not something you can sort out from the pain alone, which is exactly why someone has to look. The NHS lists these:¹

  • Tooth decay: The most common one. Decay that reaches the inner part of the tooth is what turns a hole you never noticed into pain you cannot ignore. If a cavity is behind it, our guide to cavity treatment explains what a dentist will usually do about it.
  • A dental abscess. A pocket of infection at the root or in the gum. This is the cause behind most of the severe, throbbing, keeps-you-awake toothache — and it is the one that can spread. Our guide to dental infection treatment covers how it is treated.
  • A cracked or damaged tooth. Often worst when you bite down. How it is fixed depends entirely on where the crack runs, which is not something you can judge from the outside.
  • A loose or broken filling. The tooth underneath is suddenly exposed. It can go from comfortable to sharp within a day.
  • An infection around a tooth breaking through the gum — most often a wisdom tooth that has come partly through but does not have room to come through fully. If that is what is causing your tooth and jaw ache, our guide to wisdom teeth recovery covers what treatment and recovery involve.
  • Problems with your braces.
  • Gum disease.
  • Grinding your teeth. Often at night, often without knowing. The ache is usually duller and more widespread than the pain from a single bad tooth, and it is frequently worse in the morning.
  • Sensitive teeth can also cause tooth pain — sharp, sudden and set off by something hot, cold or sweet rather than present all the time. If that sounds more like your pain, our guide to the common causes of tooth sensitivity goes into it properly.

Why toothache is worse at night

Almost everyone asks this, and there is a straightforward answer.
When you lie down, more blood flows to your head, which increases the pressure around an already inflamed nerve. On top of that, the distractions are gone. All day you had work, noise, other people. At 1 am you have a ceiling and one throbbing tooth.
The pain has usually not got worse. Your capacity to ignore it has.
The same advice applies at night as during the day: use the NHS measures above to get through it and arrange to be seen. If the pain is severe enough to stop you sleeping and you cannot get an appointment, 111 can advise you overnight.³

What a dentist actually does about it

The first job is finding the cause. That usually means an examination and an X-ray, because most of what causes toothache is under the surface.
Once the cause is known, the treatment follows it: a filling where there is decay, root canal treatment where the nerve is involved, drainage and treatment where there is infection or extraction where the tooth cannot be saved.² If your pain is coming from inside the tooth, our guide to root canal treatment explains what that involves. If it is decay, how to fix tooth decay covers the options.
The point worth holding onto: painkillers buy you time. They do not buy you a solution.

If you are considering treatment abroad

Once the pain is under control and you know what is causing it, some people choose to have the larger treatment done abroad. Where a saving of up to 70% against UK prices exists, it comes from the local cost base in Turkey — labour and laboratory costs — not from less work, different materials or a shorter treatment.
That decision belongs after the diagnosis, not during the pain. If it is one you want to look at, our guide to toothache treatment in Turkey covers it and a free consultation is the sensible first step.
DentSpa holds the Global Healthcare Accreditation Certification for Excellence in Medical Travel Patient Experience, which assesses the international patient journey — communication before treatment, coordination during it, and follow-up once the patient is home.⁴

Frequently asked questions

How can I relieve nerve pain in my tooth?

While you wait for an appointment, the NHS advises ibuprofen or paracetamol, a pain-relieving mouth gel, and a warm salt-water rinse.¹ A pharmacist can advise on painkillers. None of it reaches the nerve itself — pain coming from inside a tooth usually needs root canal treatment or extraction, so book to be seen rather than managing it indefinitely.

How do you treat tooth pain at home?

There is no home treatment that cures the cause. What you can do, per the NHS, is take suitable painkillers, use a pain-relieving mouth gel, rinse with warm salt water, eat soft food, avoid chewing on that side, and keep away from anything sweet, very hot or very cold.¹ That is temporary relief while you arrange dental care.

What can I do to relieve tooth pain quickly?

Painkillers and a pain-relieving mouth gel are the fastest things the NHS recommends, with a warm salt-water rinse alongside.¹ Avoid hot, cold and sweet food, and do not smoke. If the pain does not settle with painkillers, that is one of the NHS's own reasons to see a dentist rather than keep waiting.

What is the 3-3-3 rule for toothache?

It is not NHS advice, and you will not find it in NHS guidance on toothache. Rather than follow a rule nobody official publishes, use what the NHS actually recommends: suitable painkillers, a mouth gel, salt-water rinses, soft food, and a dentist if the pain lasts more than two days or does not respond to painkillers.¹

How do I stop toothache at night?

The same measures work at night as in the day — painkillers, mouth gel, a warm salt-water rinse, nothing hot, cold or sweet before bed.¹ Pain often feels worse lying down because blood flow to the head increases and there is nothing to distract you. If it is stopping you sleeping and you cannot get an appointment, 111 can advise overnight.³

Can toothache go away on its own?

The pain can fade. That is not the same as the cause going away, and a tooth that stops hurting after days of severe pain sometimes means the nerve has died rather than healed. The NHS advises seeing a dentist if toothache lasts more than two days, does not respond to painkillers, or comes with fever, swelling, red gums or a bad taste.¹

Is toothache relief gel safe?

The NHS lists a pain-relieving mouth gel among the things to use while you wait for an appointment, and says they can be bought from pharmacies and supermarkets.¹ Ask a pharmacist if you are unsure whether a particular product suits you. Like painkillers, a gel eases the pain and leaves the cause untouched.

How much does an emergency dentist cost on the NHS?

In England, urgent NHS dental treatment is £27.90 — the same as a Band 1 check-up. It covers examination and assessment, X-rays where needed, a temporary filling, emergency partial root canal treatment, treatment for infection and other urgent care.² Any further treatment you need afterwards is charged separately.

Sources

  1. NHS — Toothache — https://www.nhs.uk/symptoms/toothache/
  2. NHS — How much NHS dental treatment costs — https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/dentists/how-much-nhs-dental-treatment-costs/
  3. NHS 111 — https://111.nhs.uk
  4. Global Healthcare Accreditation — DentSpa strengthens global trust in Turkey’s dental services with GHA certification — https://www.globalhealthcareaccreditation.com/news/dentspa-strengthens-global-trust-in-turkeys-dental-services-with-gha-certification