Clove therapeutic essential oil with A.W.Mumford's 1901 botanical illustration
The most powerfully anti-infectious essential oil as well as a topical anesthetic, Clove is considered a classic remedy for dental health, healing both toothaches & gum infections. 75-87% eugenol, clove has an astonishingly high ORAC rating of 10,787 per 1 gram ~ the highest antioxidant value of any known food on earth. (For comparison, oranges have an ORAC rating of approx 7.60 per gram.) Clove oil, even used in tiny quantities, offers significant antioxidant benefits.
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CLOVE Therapeutic Essential Oil’s Healing Properites
Analgesic, Anti-Bacterial, Anti-Fungal, Anti-Infectious, Anti-Inflammatory, Anti-Parasitic, STRONG Antiseptic, Anti-Tumoral, Anti-Viral, Disinfectant, Immune Stimulant, and Warming
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Here’s how CLOVE essential oil came to the rescue in our dental health emergency this week.
My hubby, Bill’s rear lower molar had been bothering him for a month. (He thought work-related stress was irritating the nerve…which had happened before.) Thursday, it became TOO much…and started throbbing, radiating pain along the jawbone and up the side of his face. Bill had been feeling extra fatigued, getting dour and irritable, in the prior few days. Guess toxins from an infection will do that to a person.
I had suggested to Bill several weeks ago to start dabbing the tooth & surrounding gum line with undiluted CLOVE oil in case there was an infection. But as some hubbies are prone to do, he hadn’t bothered. Reminded him again that using Clove oil would help stop the infection FAST! And help numb the pain, since it’s a topical anesthetic.
Initially, Bill applied THIEVES™ ~ a versatile anti-infectious Young Living Essential oil blend ~ with a cotton-tipped swab dabbing it around the inflamed gum line and right on the sorest areas. Within 1 minute, the pain & discomfort were reduced by 30%. He repeated the application a 2-3 times.
(COMMENT: The clove oil in THIEVES™ is VERY spicy and numbing, so do expect this and don’t be surprised, when you use CLOVE or THIEVES for a toothache or gum infection. Also, in a few minutes after applying it you will begin to feel like you have a mild fever. Your face will get warm as the Clove oil floods every cell in your body. Don’t be alarmed. It’s simply stimulating your immune system to fight the infection.)
German Chamomile (Matricaria recutita) therapeutic essential oil
German Chamomile Therapeutic-quality Essential Oil
Offered the 1-2 Punch!
I also suggested Bill use German Chamomile on the outside of his cheek along the painful nerve pathway on his jaw. With the strongest anti-inflammatory compounds of any essential oil and complementary analgesic properties, I knew this deep indigo blue oil would reduce both nerve inflammation and the associated pain.
Bill put a few drops of German Chamomile essential oil along his jawbone, over his cheek, and up to his forehead. In less than half an hour, he was feeling MUCH better!
I had made dental appointments for us, but they were still a month away. So, Bill called to see if he could get in for an emergency afternoon exam. Our new dentist, Dr. JS Sandhu DDS of Santa Rosa, CA asked Bill to come in right away. Turned out my sweet guy had a deep infection of the root and tooth crown that had started near the gum line. Dr. Sandhu arranged an appointment for a root canal the next day with Dr. Thomas Bozeman, an endodontist (root canal specialist), so Bill wouldn’t have to suffer through a horribly painful weekend.
Mid-afternoon, when Bill got home from the emergency dental appointment, he continued using Clove oil to augment effects of the antibiotic prescription Dr. Sandhu had given him. And applied German Chamomile to his cheek to relieve the neuralgic pain.
By 9pm in the evening ~ only 5 hours later ~ when Dr. Sandhu phoned to see how Bill was doing (a REAL doctor / what service!), and asked if the Vicadin was helping with the pain, Bill said he was hardly in any discomfort at all and hadn’t taken any Vicadin, yet. Bill commented the single dose of antibiotic he had taken, when he got home, was “already working.”
Overhearing the phone conversation, I noted a subtle tone of disbelief in Dr. Sandhu’s voice, but being a gentleman and a real doctor, he wasn’t about to dismiss what he probably thought was a placebo effect of Bill’s optimism. Dr. Sandhu encouraged Bill take some Vicadin before bed and to continue with the every-8-hours antibiotic prescription routine to minimize the infection before his root canal surgery the following day.
I, of course, have NO doubts, the therapeutic Clove and German Chamomile essential oils were actually responsible for the dramatic, rapid reduction in Bill’s pain and discomfort.
Root Canal Follow-Up
The root canal procedure went well under Dr. Bozemann’s skilled hands. With Novocaine, pain and discomfort during the dental surgery were minimal. Dr. Bozemann gave Bill a dose of 800 mgs of Ibuprofen, after the procedure, along with a prescription to fill…and the firm advice to take the pain meds every 8 hours for the whole weekend. Thinking we had some Ibuprofen at home, we never filled the prescription.
Bill continued to use Clove and German Chamomile essential oils directly on his gums around the molar. And applied German Chamomile to the skin over his cheek and jaw to keep post-dental surgery inflammation minimized. (COMMENT: Clove is too irritating to use undiluted on skin, while German Chamomile is completely safe.) Now, 26 hours after root canal surgery, Bill hardly has any discernible pain at all ~ without ANY pain meds ~ even, when he crunches down hard on his temporary filling! LOVE those awesome therapeutic essential oils!!
Cynthe Brush CCA, formulates healing essential oil blends for your health issues: stress; backaches; herpes simplex; injuries; sprains - broken bones; wounds & surgeries. Personal Consultations pre-paid on an hourly basis. Custom EO blends at Gaia's Pharmacopeia.
