My tooth still hurts, and now I drool too
Written: Feb 19 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: It does provide fast toothache relief.
Cons: Relief doesn't last more than 20 minutes or so.
The Bottom Line: Offers quick relief, but only for a short period of time. I wouldn't recommend this product.
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| RayneStorm's Full Review: Orajel Toothache Maximum Strength |
I recently received an unused tube of Orajel, Maximum Strength toothache pain medicine from a friend. I guess she had grown tired of hearing the complaints I had been making concerning an aching tooth. This is the first experience I have had with this medicine, and had been taking aspirin type pain medication to alleviate the pain from the toothache.
Packaging:
The tube comes packaged in a yellow cardboard box. All instructions and warnings are labelled on the box, as well as on the tube itself. All explanations are easy to understand, though the print is small due to the size of the tube.
The tube contains 9.5g (Canadian packaging) of toothache medicine. There is a “safety-sealed tube tip” at one end of the tube, which must be cut before use.
While the tube does contain an area for the “used by” date, there is no such area on the packaging itself.
The Claims:
The packaging states:
”Provides immediate, longer lasting toothache pain relief. Maximum strength Orajel is formulated to provide faster relief from pain for hours.”
As suggested on the packaging, this medicine is not to be used for extended periods of time, instead, is designed to offer temporary relief until the user is able to consult a dentist.
While the packaging does warn that the product should be kept out of reach of children, there is no indication of age suitability, no indication as to who the medicine is most suitable for.
The Medicine:
As the name suggests, and as listed on the packaging, the medicine is in the form of a clear gel which is applied directly to the effected tooth, as well being applied to the gums surrounding the painful tooth/teeth.
The medicine acts to numb the effected tooth, and any area of the mouth which the gel comes into contact with.
While there is no list of ingredients in this medicine, the packaging does state that the medication contains 20% W/W Benzocaine.
Effectiveness:
The gel is quite thick, which means that it doesn’t just stick to the area in which it has been applied. It tends to mix with the saliva and moves to the other parts of the mouth also. I have also tried rubbing the medication into the effected area, but this seems to do nothing more than inflame the painful area. The medicine also has a terrible taste, one that causes an aftertaste long after the medication has lost its effectiveness.
The medicine does numb the tooth, however, because it mixes with saliva, it also numbs other parts of the mouth, any part that may be touched by the medicine. This can include the inside of the cheek, the tongue, and the throat. I have found that swallowing can become difficult if this medicine does reach and numb the throat.
I have also found that the medicine doesn’t relieve the pain, instead, it disguises it by numbing it, which also causes a tingling sensation in the mouth. As claimed on the box, this effect is almost immediate. However, although the box claims that the medicine acts to relieve pain for hours, I have never found this to be the case. Generally, the medicine numbs the effected area for a short period of time, usually about 15-20 minutes. While this is against what is writing on the box, it does allow time for other pain medication, such as aspirin, to start working to dull the pain.
The warning that states that this medication should be kept out of reach of children should not be taken lightly. I believe the main concern would be that in taking the medication, the child could ingest some, which would cause their throat to become numb, which in turn could cause serious breathing problems. Even as an adult, I have found swallowing to be difficult when using this product.
While this medication does provide immediate relief from pain, it is not as effective as claimed on the packaging. It could also lead to other problems, those mentioned previously. For these reasons, I would not recommend this product to other consumers.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
RayneStorm
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Location: London, ON
Reviews written: 174
Trusted by: 55 members
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