Salt for toothache..Why does it work?

I have had a toothache for weeks, can't go to the dentist, so i have been using warm water and salt and it really takes away the pain.

What i want to know is...How does the salt actually do it???..Yet Orajel does nothing for me.

You may have an infection and the salt water is helping to clean it and kill the bacteria.

Try rinsing with peroxide as well.

It could be that your toothache is caused by an infection, and salt is a great disinfectant.

salt kills germs. the warmth probably helps too.

Salt naturally reduces the likeliness of more infection, so it reduces the pain, sometimes even stopping the pain altogether.

Actually it'snot the salt. The warm water is making it feel good. A better thing for toothaches is packing it with oil of cloves. It's an analgaesic, and very potent, so you'd best do it over the sink (drooling!). Place a bit on a cotton ball, and then place it on the affected area. It's ok if you swallow, but it tases the worst!

I'm a dentist.

As far as I know, there is no physiologic effect of salt on a painful tooth. It probably does absolutely nothing for the source of the pain. Any relief it gives you is probably based on the placebo effect, which any good doctor will tell you should never be dismissed as useless!

It is also possible that the warmth of the water is somehow soothing the area, although usually when a tooth reaches the point where a temperature other than 98.6 degrees keeps the tooth pain free (such as when the tooth is abscessed), it is typically colder temperatures that alleviate the pain.