ABSTRACT-
Toothache, also known as Dentalgia, is defined as extreme pain or swelling of the tooth and its surrounding areas. The toothache/ Dentalgia may be mild, severe, or debilitating depending on how long it lasts. The symptoms of toothache include pushing, tearing, jerking, crushing, and other unpleasant feelings. The discomfort might radiate to other parts of the brain and last all day, giving the person headaches and tingling. There are numerous potential causes for the severe pain that is felt.
Patients who appear with toothache or dentalgia can be treated appropriately and cured with homoeopathic medicine by thorough case taking and reportorization.
The potential contribution of homoeopathy to the treatment of numerous dental problems, whether it is dentalgia or dental caries is well-lit in contemporary scientific literature.
INTRODUCTION-
One of the most common chronic non-communicable diseases in the world is dental caries, which puts the elderly at disproportionately high risk. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 96% of Americans aged 65 and over in the country have dental carries. The WHO’s aims to reduce dental caries prevalence are difficult to achieve because dental caries are chronic illnesses that exhibit sharp changes in prevalence depending on several factors. According to several studies conducted in developing nations like Saudi Arabia and India, the prevalence rate among 13 to 19-year-olds is 36.7%, while in Saudi Arabia it is as high as 83%. Untreated dental caries can make it difficult to eat or sleep, cause pain, and eventually necessitate an emergency dental appointment, hospitalization, invasive treatment, and systemic health issues, all of which impair quality of life. According to the Global Burden of Disease Study conducted in 2017, dental caries of the permanent teeth was the most prevalent ailment. Approximately 2.4 billion people worldwide have permanent tooth decay, and 486 million children have primary tooth decay.
Keywords: Toothache, Dentalgia, Dental caries, Homoeopathy.
Causes of toothache–
- Tooth decay- Food particles that have not been thoroughly removed from the mouth can remain there and lead to cavities and chronic tooth pain. The teeth may become particularly sensitive due to this illness.
- Dental abscess- Fever and bleeding can also indicate pulp infection, as might inflammation. The entire pulp tissue may become injured because of this. In such circumstances, the development of an abscess can also result in severe tooth pain.
- Cracked Tooth- This issue may also be related to teeth that have been excessively ground down, cracked, shattered, or chipped because of an accident, fall, or other trauma. It might also be brought on by a sports injury. Typically, a dental X-ray is performed by the dentist to determine the source of the discomfort and the degree of the damage.
- Sinus- Sinusitis, a condition brought on by discomfort in the local nerves, is frequently the cause of a dull aching in the sinus area of the upper teeth. This discomfort can also be brought on by a cold and cough, as well as an allergic reaction that causes persistent sneezing and eye watering and affects the facial muscles.
- A compromised dental filling.
- A wisdom tooth that has grown but lacks the space to emerge fully.
- Injury/ Trauma to the jaw.
- Disease and inflammation of the gums.
CASE SUMMARY –
A male patient of age 45yrs came to OPD with following complaints;
Toothache for one month with decaying and black discoloration of molars edges or sides of the molars. Decaying and discoloration followed by toothache. After further interrogation patient said that pain aggravates after taking sour food or drinks like after adding lemon in food, lemon water or any sour juice or food item, pain also aggravates after taking sweets, cold things and pain ameliorates after taking warm drinks. Patient desire for sweets pain has nothing to do with brushing teeth, eating, chewing.
On examination;
Molars – black discoloration and decayed at sides
Tongue- clean
Prescribing totality1. Toothache- molars
2.Toothache only in decayed teeth
3.Black discoloration of teeth
4.Teeth decayed at sides
5.Desire sweets
6.Pain aggravates after taking cold, sour food & drinks, sweets
Reportorial Totality-
1.Teeth- CARIES, decayed, hollow-sides of teeth
2.Teeth-DISCOLORATION-black
3.Teeth-PAIN-cold; after taking a
4.Teeth-PAIN-Decayed teeth; in
5.Teeth-PAIN-Molars
6.GENERALS-FOOD and DRINKS-sour food, acids-agg.
7. GENERALS-FOOD and DRINKS-sweets- agg.
8. GENERALS-FOOD and DRINKS-sweets-desire
Prescription;
- Staph 200 SD
- Rubrum BD for 7 days
Remedial Analysis;
Although Staphysagria comes first on repertorization, characteristic symptoms of teeth turn black, decayed at edges was strongly covered by staph. As the patient states pain is not aggravated on chewing but aggravated by taking cold, sour food and better by taking warm were also marked in this case, pointing towards STAPH.
Follow up;1
- There was no pain for the next 5 days after taking medicine.
- Two episodes of pain but the intensity of pain was less than before.
Rx – SL/BD/7 days.
Follow up;2
- Complete absent of pain
- Decaying not increases further
- Patients were advised to take cold drinks and sour foods somedays.
Rx- SL/TDS/7 days.
Follow up;3
- No pain
- Decaying stops as it is, not increases further.
- Pain does not return even after eating sour food and drinks.
Rx-SL/BD/15 days (about 2 weeks).
Conclusion- A comprehensive study must be performed since toothache could be brought on by an adverse ailment in the human body to evaluate the efficiency of homoeopathic treatment. As demonstrated by the preceding case, homeopathy is an effective treatment for toothache. There are many remedies in our Materia medica for toothache and dental caries. A perfect selection of remedy through proper repertorization and dosage can treat the patient without any adverse side effects.
References-
- Pandey P, Nandkeoliar T, Tikku AP, Singh D, Singh MK. Prevalence of Dental Caries in the Indian Population: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. J Int Soc Prev Community Dent. 2021 Jun 10;11(3):256-265. doi: 10.4103/jispcd.JISPCD_42_21. PMID: 34268187; PMCID: PMC8257015.
- https://www.healthline.com/health/toothaches.
- https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/10957-toothache#:~:text=What%20is%20a%20toothache%3F,get%20better%20on%20their%20own
- https://www.homeobook.com/homoeopathic-management-of-odontalgia/.
- Allen H.C. Allen’s Keynotes Rearranged and Classified with Leading Remedies of the Materia Medica and Bowel Nosodes including REPERTORIAL INDEX; Tenth edition, B. Jain publishers (P) LTD.
- Allen H.C. KEYNOTES and CHARACTERISTICS with COMPARISONS OF SOME OF THE LEADING REMEDIES OF THE MATERIA MEDICA WITH BOWEL NOSODES; Eighth Edition, B. Jian Publishers (P) Ltd.
- https://www.radaropus.com/products/apps/synthesis-app.
