1. Weird Toothache Remedies that You Should Never Attempt
Back in the day, before modern medicine, people would do the strangest things to get rid of pain. You
can’t blame them really. If you’ve ever had a bad toothache, you might do anything to get rid of it,
right?
In order for us to truly appreciate the modern remedies that we enjoy (and for a little fun) here is a look
into the past and their really awful cures that you really should never, ever try!
Irritation
Apparently, some people thought you could just annoy the crap out of a toothache and make it leave.
They would attempt this by irritating a tooth with a nail (often a coffin nail in particular) until it bled.
Then, you would jam the nail into a piece of
wood.
It’s unclear what statement jamming a bloody nail
into wood made, but apparently, it must have had
some, at least psychological, effect.
Poison
Other cultures decided they could poison a
toothache away. Sounds dangerous, right? Well,
it was. How would you like to take a little arsenic,
maybe some chloroform, or laudanum poison?
Perhaps these people thought you could kill just
certain parts of your body…?
In all fairness, some of these poisons do double as a sort of pain killer – especially if you just soaked the
tooth in the poison rather than ingesting it. Unfortunately, overdosing was incredibly easy and many
people certainly died from these types of “remedies.”
What’s even scarier is that they would give these poisons to children. Shudder.
Frog Prince
Any person willing to exchange spit with a frog must certainly be hoping for a prince (or princess) in
return. Except back in the day, relief from a toothache might have sufficed as an acceptable reward.
Yes, people would actually exchange saliva with frogs to get rid of toothaches. Why anyone would think
that would work still remains a mystery. At least over time things improved to the point that spitting on
a frog was good enough. No exchange necessary.

2. It’s Magic!
Back when magicians were more than just entertainers, people would ask for magicians to write spells
for them. Others would visit a “fairy tree” and leave gifts in hopes that the fairies would take the pain
away.
Other strange relics were also obtained and carried around like a dead person or animal’s tooth or
stealing a piece of Robin Hood’s gravestone. It’s amazing what people will come up with to get rid of
toothaches.
More Modern Remedies
Fortunately, as time went on, wise men and women advanced to more effective plants and herbs (and
the occasional drug like cocaine) to actually relieve pain. Some of these included clove oil, peppermint
oil, whiskey, veggies, and products from elder trees. Some of these remedies are still used today, rather
effectively.
On top of that, we enjoy all sorts of modern pain killers that don’t involve us touching dead things or
drinking poison. Modern dentists are also available to help prevent and fix causes of toothaches.
If you have a toothache, don’t hesitate – go visit your Oklahoma dentist today!