The pain from a toothache is a particularly distressing type of pain that is experienced by many people. Pain from a toothache can feel like a throbbing, sharp and dull sensation. Here’s how medical cannabis, specifically CBD, can help alleviate discomfort.
CBD Oil and Tooth Pain
Anyone who’s ever suffered from tooth pain knows just how frustrating the pain can be. If you’re searching for a quick and convenient solution for toothaches, you may want to give medical CBD a try.
While the research on medical cannabis used in dentistry is limited, the number of unbiased studies showing its clear health benefits is not. The consensus of the scientific community is that medical cannabis can be an effective pain-reliever as well as an anti-inflammatory.
CBD also has strong antibacterial properties that could potentially prevent tooth pain when used as part of your dental hygiene routine.
CBD Oil Tooth Pain Relief
Apply a couple of drops of CBD oil directly to the affected region. Relief should occur within 5 to 30 minutes. Please note that if your CBD oil contains any THC above 1%, you may potentially experience intoxicating effects.
What is Medical CBD?
CBD is one of two main active compounds that come from the cannabis plant, with the other compound being THC. CBD has been used to help treat a variety of health issues such as anxiety, depression, chronic pain, nerve pain, insomnia, Parkinson’s and epilepsy. The upside of CBD is that it doesn’t generate any intoxicating effects that recreational users refer to as getting “high” – effects that are only caused by the ingestion of THC.
To best accommodate patients who understandably may not want to engage in smoking, medical CBD has been extracted and synthesized into convenient forms of medication that range from oils and capsules.
Causes of Toothaches
It is known that toothaches result from poor dental hygiene, but they may have a bigger genetic component. For example, you can inherit your enamel, and mouth microbiome from your parents. As a result, some people have naturally weaker teeth that decay faster than others.
When plaque builds up in your mouth, it can lead to tooth decay, where parts of the bone wear thin or breaks. Plaque development causes the pulp that is at the center of your tooth to become exposed. This can lead to sharp pain as this part of the tooth is filled with nerve endings and blood vessels.
However, there are also a few other possible causes of tooth pain. For example, it could be a sign that your wisdom teeth are growing, or it could be linked with sinusitis.
As soon as you start feeling pain in your teeth, your first step should be to consult a dentist. They will assess the cause of your problem and offer practical solutions. In some cases, you might need to get a tooth taken out or follow a course of antibiotics.
Understanding the Types of Tooth Pain
Toothaches are a widespread problem among the general population. But not all tooth pain is the same. Sometimes but not all, toothaches can indicate a cavity, dental fracture or abscess. Below, you can read about the different types of tooth pain and what they could mean.
Throbbing Pain in the Back of the Jaw
This type of toothache pain occurs at the back molars at the back of the mouth and is usually a sign of impacted wisdom teeth. Most people have four wisdom teeth: two in the top row and two in the bottom row. While medical CBD can help ease the pain, it is strongly recommended that you consult with a dentist.
Sensitive Teeth Pain
If you experience sharp, sudden pain when your teeth are exposed to temperature changes, such as drinking cold water or sipping hot soup, this could be the result of rough brushing or the receding of your gum line. Possible causes also include cavities or abscesses. An abscess is a bacterial infection that begins around the root of the tooth.
Mild and Dull Tooth Pain
As the most common form of tooth pain, this type of pain feels like a consistently mild and dull pain that is continuously pulsating in the background. It can potentially be the result of nerve damage or tooth decay. It is highly recommended that you consult your dentist immediately.
Intense Throbbing Tooth Pain
Extreme pain that is limited to a localized area, such as an individual tooth, is a strong sign of infection or an abscess. If you have this pain, it is critically important that you receive immediate help. Medical CBD may provide some pain relief until you consult with your dentist.
CBD Oil Tooth Pain Treatment
Medical cannabis has been used to treat all sorts of pain for centuries. But how is the cannabis plant able to treat so many different health problems? The answer lies within our bodies.
Modern science has helped us understand that the therapeutic effects are a result of active cannabinoids interacting with our bodies’ internal endocannabinoid system.
Our Endocannabinoid System
Our endocannabinoid system is made up of numerous CB1 and CB2 receptors that are located throughout the body, such as the skin, brain, immune system, gastrointestinal tract and more. The purpose of our endocannabinoid system is to continually maintain an optimal state of cellular balance or homeostasis. It plays a vital role in regulating pain, inflammation, mood and appetite.
The phytocannabinoids (THC, CBD) that originate from the cannabis plant can bind and interact with our native cannabinoid receptors. When binding occurs, cannabinoids can influence the function of the endocannabinoid system, which can lead to a decrease in pain, inflammation, stress and even depression.
2019 Dutch Study On The Effects Of Medical Cannabis On Chronic Pain
A 2019 study tested the use of medical cannabis as a painkiller. Researchers conducted an experiment on a group of 20 chronic pain patients. They gave them either a drug containing various amounts of THC and CBD, or a placebo. For 3 hours following consumption of the drug, scientists tested the volunteers with a few different tests: self-assessed pain scores and electrical pain threshold tests.
The results were very positive. They showed that “Cannabis varieties containing THC caused a significant increase in pressure pain threshold relative to placebo.”
Chronic pain and acute pains like tooth pain behave differently. But in both cases, the endocannabinoid system regulates pain levels. So compounds like THC and CBD that act on that system can lower pain levels, no matter its cause.
There’s more to CBD Oil Tooth Pain:
Many medical cannabis patients who suffer from pain are turning to CBD for relief. Unlike THC, CBD is not psychoactive, meaning that it does not cause a high. As a result, many people prefer it to THC to take throughout the day, knowing that it won’t affect their work performance or their daily business.
Over the past two decades, there has been an increasing amount of research on CBD for pain. Studies suggest that it could be helpful to treat arthritic pain and neuropathic pain.
We also know that CBD acts as a powerful anti-inflammatory substance. Applied to tooth pain, CBD could help to reduce the swelling that a painful tooth can cause.
In Conclusion
Tooth pain is one of the most debilitating dental problems you can have. It’s generally a sign of some form of tooth decay, but it could also point at other causes.
In recent years, scientists have found that medical cannabis and CBD are useful in lowering levels of pain, inflammation, and bacteria proliferation. Research on the uses of cannabinoids for tooth pain is still lacking. However, what we know about the effects of medical cannabis on other types of pain is very promising. We are expecting to see much more research on medical cannabis and dental health in the future.
Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6277878/
https://insights.ovid.com/crossref?an=00006396-201904000-00011
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4851925/
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ptr.4781
