First off, let me just say that this abscessed tooth came as a complete shock. This particular child of mine has never had one cavity in his life, and he even got a good report at his last cleaning 6-8 months ago. However, after an x-ray at the dentist's on Friday, it was obvious he had a cavity between two of his baby teeth which led to the abscess.
Now before I share the dentist's (and my) plan, let me go back to the beginning.
He began complaining of his gum (not tooth) hurting on Thursday, but I couldn't see anything but redness, so I thought he had cut his gum flossing and now it was irritated. He went to bed crying that night because of the pain, only eventually settling down after a dose of echinacea tincture for immune support, white willow bark tincture to ease pain, and valerian to calm him down. Unfortunately, he woke up Friday morning with a swollen, red cheek, still in pain, and feeling a little warm.
I knew immediately it was an abscess. Often these types of infections begin quite inconspicuously and work their way into something much more. I immediately gave him a larger dose of
echinacea tincture, made some
garlic honey, and called the dentist to see if I could get him seen.
Now let me pause.
Echinacea is an amazing herb that is quite effective against bacteria. Not only does it increase white blood cell production, but it increases phagocytosis as well, which is the process in which immune cells destroy bacteria. Echinacea is great during acute infections and you can give pretty decent doses of it to help activate the immune system and get the job done. It particularly shines when it comes into direct contact with bacteria, so seeing how the infection is in the mouth, it was the first thing I pulled from my apothecary.
Next, garlic is another amazing herb to counter bacterial infections. In fact, it's useful for both gram positive and gram negative aerobic bacteria, as well as resistant strains of bacteria. Mincing garlic and putting it in honey has been the easiest way to get my kids to use enough garlic for the volatile oils and sulfur compounds to come to a therapeutic level in their bodies, and they need quite a lot — around 4-10 cloves a day (sometimes more) depending on their weight. I mean, you should be reeking of garlic by the end of the day if you're using it to counter a bacterial infection.
Okay, so I'm giving my kid both of these things every 2-3 hours, we go see the dentist, they confirm it's an abscess, and he is prescribed antibiotics. Now, this child has never had antibiotics before, but the dentist expects for the infection and swelling to be subsiding by next Tuesday so she can pull the baby tooth.
Now, what's a natural mama who's not a big fan of antibiotics, unless it's an emergency and there are no other options, to do?
I mean, was this an emergency? Well, sort of. Worst case scenario, an abcess can spread to the brain or cause sepsis if it's not treated, and no one wants to mess with that! However, for a healthy individual, that doesn't happen overnight. So while this sort of infection can become a big deal, at this point, it's wasn't a life and death emergency, but certainly something to start addressing right away.
Were there any other options? Sure! Herbs! In our home, we always reach for the natural stuff before the pharmaceutical stuff (and I always have both on hand). If the natural stuff doesn't work or things get worse, we opt for the pharmaceutical stuff.
So, while the dentist suggested I start the antibiotics right away, I had a a more natural plan.
- Get the antibiotic prescription filled and bring it home with me in case we needed it.
- Continue dosing echinacea tincture and garlic honey, but add in goldenseal tincture now that an actual infection was confirmed. (This may have been overkill, but I do not mess around with infections. I want herbs to work, and I use them frequently and in sufficient doses.
- IF my kiddo was no better or worse by mid-day Sunday, I'd use the antibiotics as directed, that way they would have 24 hours + to get into his system and start working on the infection.
- Next, we'd do regular salt rinses to ease inflammation and swelling. And while the echinacea/goldenseal tinctures help with this, as does the garlic honey, I'd have some dye-free children's ibuprofen on hand to use as needed for inflammation and pain as well. While I'm not a fan of using over-the-counter meds on a regular basis, I'm not afraid to use them when we need them.
This was my plan — one that both the nurse side and herbalist side of me felt good about.
I suppose I should also say that my dentist knows I prefer to take the natural route before the medical route. She also knows that I respect modern medicine and science enough to be smart about things as well. We have a good relationship, and I think that's important. She trusts and respects me as mom, and I trust and respect her as a doctor.
