The following are some tips for relieving tooth pain:
- Have compassion for all creatures, including animals, as the Talmud emphasizes in the episode of Rabbi Yehuda Hanassi.[1]
- Study the tractate Hulin [2] in the Talmud (and/or the associated Mishnayot) as well as the tractate Bechorot [3].
- In the manuscripts of the Kabbalist Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri zatsal he writes: place your finger on the aching tooth and recite these phrases:
“איוב הלך בדרך, ופגע בו אליהו הנביא ואמר לו מפני מה אתה מצטער? ואמר מפני כאב השיניים שיש לי. ואמר לו לך תטבול בנהר דינור ותתרפא הלך וטבל ונתרפא.
(Job was walking along the path, and the prophet Elijah met him and asked him: Why are you suffering? He replied: Because of the toothache I have. He said: Go and bathe in the river Dinur and be healed. He bathed and healed. May the One who healed Job also heal So-and-so, amen, may it be His will.
- [5] Some recommend following this segula after observing the moon for the first time in the month, although Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri did not specify such a condition, suggesting its effectiveness at all times. Some recommend reciting this formula three times [6].
- When blessing the new moon (ברכת הלבנה), after saying “ברוך יוצרך ברוך עושיך ברוך קוניך, כשם שאנחנו מרקד … ולא יעשו בנו שום רושם כלל”, it is advisable to add in a low voice [8], without raising one’s voice: “ולא יהיה לנו כאבי שיניים.”- “I should not have any toothaches” [7]
This was the practice of Rabbi Maran Ovadia Yossef [9]. Some also recommend rubbing your teeth while reciting. This prayer can also be effective for other people, so one can ask a Talmid Hacham to pray this way for someone during the new moon blessing.[11]
- Those who scrupulously observe the mitzvah of tzitzit (that is, those who make a constant effort to use tzitzit and ensure its perfect compliance according to Halacha) benefit from preventative omen against toothache, with G-d’s help [12].
- Likewise, when covering yourself with the tallit gadol (large) and reciting “lehitatef betzitzit”, it is recommended to meditate on the initials “Lamed Bet” (להתעטף בציצית), an intention that offers protection against toothache. [13]
- Rosting apples over fire is beneficial. The ideal is to add a leaf of ‘Arava (willow) with which the soil was tamped on the day of Hoshana Rabba. If this is done on the day of Hoshana Rabba after the morning prayer, and the apple is eaten before other foods, it prevents toothache throughout the year. Some people present this segula differently: take a large apple, put it in the oven and insert a Hoshana willow branch into the apple until it comes out the other side. Eating the apple while holding the branch guarantees, a year [14] without toothache.
- Commit to studying two laws on backbiting (lashon hara’) every day.[15]
- Cook sweet pomegranate seeds in strong vinegar and apply to the affected tooth.[16]
- Purify oneself in a mikvah and rinse one’s mouth with its water (if it is hygienically possible for oneself and others), formulating in one’s heart the prayer that thanks to Rabbi Israel ben Sarah, the Maggid of Kozhnitz zatsal, there will be no tooth pain.[17]
- Refraining from consuming cheese on the eve of Shabbat is a recognized rule to prevent toothaches[18] (preferably from early evening, i.e. Thursday night)[19].
- Heat vinegar with mustard, dip a cloth or piece of cotton in this hot mixture and apply to the painful area.[20]
- To calm a child’s crying because of teething, some advise, like Segula, to apply butter to the teeth area.[21]
This article does not replace a medical consultation.
