Seasonal Tips from the Book Of Shadows

One For The Medicine Chest

Tooth Ache!!!!!!!!!!

The dentist can't see you until next week, but your tooth Hurts NOW!

Okay, so you ate a bunch of sweets over the holidays, and now your tooth is killing you. Hang in there! You probably have just what you need to stop that pain.

Got Cloves? Got Vodka? Got a Cotton Ball?

That's all you need.

What to do:

Take three or four whole cloves, and grind them up with a mortar and pestle. If you don't have whole cloves, you can use a teaspoon of pre-ground cloves, but whole cloves work best.

Place the ground up cloves in a small glass - a shot glass or a sherry glass will work.

Cover the cloves with one capful of Vodka. Stir the cloves around in the vodka.

Let that soak for at least 15 minutes

Take a cotton ball, and pull a small piece out of it. Roll the small piece between your thumb and finger to create a tiny cotton ball.

Soak the tiny cotton ball in the clove/vodka mixture. Roll it around in the mixture until it turns yellow and picks up tiny bits of the clove.

Squeeze the excess vodka out of the tiny ball.

Place the tiny cotton ball into the area of the tooth that hurts, and leave it there until the pain stops.

Don't swallow the "clove juice". Spit it out or wipe your tongue with a paper towel.

Cover the mixing glass with plastic wrap and save the mixture to reapply as needed.

Why it works

Clove oil contains eugenol, a dental analgesic and antiseptic that is used by dentists. It is the main ingredient in most toothache medicines.

The vodka extracts the oil from the cloves.

The cotton ball absorbs the oil, and holds it on your tooth - where you need it.