Ailment: Gum diseases

Remedy: Cloves / clove oil

You can buy whole cloves in a supermarket or Asian store. Clove oil is available in some health food shops, but is sold more widely as an essential oil. If buying the essential oil, make sure it is made from real cloves and is pure.

Clove oil is one of the richest sources of antioxidants. Place a single drop under the tongue once per day.

Clove oil is an anaesthetic and antiseptic, making it particularly suitable for toothache and infections.

Comment posted by JohnM of Sydney, NSW, Australia on 25 May 2010 at 16:55       218

YES
Garlic for gum abscess. I am in awe of the potency of garlic as a natural antibiotic. I have known for a long time about the use of garlic, but have never really used it in a serious situation. The inside of a gum against a wisdom tooth was infected according to my dentist, and the only way to clear it was using antibiotics. The next day I could hardly open my mouth, and could feel the infection spreading deep into the muscles that hinge my jaw. I knew it was a deep abscess but I was determined not to use pharmaceutical antibiotics as I am very much aware of how they harm your digestion and immune system for many months. I was doing salt water rinses a couple of times a day, and they helped, but I was not getting on top of the situation. The following day the pain was increasing, so I went out and bought some clove oil, and applied that with a cotton wool tip to the gum. Instant relief! But over the next couple of days the pain in my jaw muscles did not go away, and though the clove oil was obviously helping, the main infection was still there. The abscess also burst which relieved the pressure and some of the pain. The "aha!" moment was when I started using garlic. This is not for the feint-hearted. I mashed up a large clove of garlic in my mortar and pestle and placed some of the mash on my abscess and drank the rest with a glass of water. The pain was incredible and my mouth was dribbling. For ten minutes I just walked around while the pain reduced. Within 12 hours the abscess reduced by half, and the next morning the swelling was virtually gone, the abscess had stopped oozing pus, and there was hardly any pain.