Homeopathy for Wisdom Tooth Extraction

IN BRIEF

Wisdom teeth need to come out? Try homeopathy for a speedy recovery.  This girl didn't need a single pain killer after her wisdom teeth extractions, but mom almost lost her cookies watching the proceedings...

Arnica and Hypericum are two very useful homeopathic remedies for surgery, including dental surgeries. 

And if all else fails, a dead German mystic may come to the rescue!

​By Anke Zimmermann, BSc, FCAH

One week ago my 19-year-old daughter Ariana had three wisdom teeth removed, one of them impacted. Wisdom tooth removal is something of a rite of passage for teens these days, especially if they've had braces and don't want their teeth to shift. 

I had my own wisdom teeth removed when I was still in naturopathic college, about 27 years ago. At the time we had just learned about Arnica and other homeopathic remedies for use in surgery. I used Arnica 200CH and 1M with great success at the time, suffering very little swelling or discomfort, much to the surprise of a classmate who described quite an ordeal of swelling and pain after her extractions.

So here we were, almost 30 years later, with high tech monitors and IV sedation in a spotless dental surgery room, my daughter covered in a pretty blue blanket, a far cry from the earthier procedure I underwent back in the 80s with only local freezing. 

The Give-Away

I had asked to be allowed in the room during the procedure. Our dentist Dr. B casually asked: "Are you going to be okay?" I nodded bravely when Junior piped up: "But Mom, didn't you faint that time when you watched a C-section?"

Gee, thanks honey. 

"No, uh, I was okay with the C-section." It was the epidural this woman had which had caused me to faint. Her husband caught me going down and then he fainted too. But that's a story for another day!

The assistant placed the IV in Ariana's arm and somehow a wrinkled black and white photo of a man's face suddenly fell out of her shirt. "I'm not even going to try and explain this," she quipped and stuffed it back in. It was a photo of a man named Bruno Groening, more about that later...

Dr. B proceeded to patiently inject the sedative a small amount at a time. I was not really happy about her getting a sedative at the time to be honest, but Ariana had made her own arrangements and decided to have it. 

Meanwhile I was sitting on a bench at the back of the room with a couple of magazines and a blue blanket to match my daughter's, my stomach churning already.

​They were going to hurt my baby!

The Ordeal

The local freezing was placed and Dr. B proceeded to extract the first tooth. He really had to use the strength in his hand, I could clearly see it. I was starting to sweat and hoped it was just a hot flush.
​
"Here is one!" It wasn't a hot flush. Where is a damn bucket when you need it! I was ready to lose my cookies and there were two more teeth to go, one of them impacted!

I felt my head spinning and my vision blurring but there was no escaping now. Dr. B was on one side of the chair, the assistant on the other and various cables further obstructed the route to the washroom. In any case I was afraid to even try and get up in case I'd collapse on the floor and disrupt the entire proceedings.

The next 20 minutes passed in a blur of superhuman effort not to throw up on the dentist's floor or worse, to pass out. Between breathing exercises and staring intently at random photos in a magazine I managed to get thought it. My recommendation: DON'T! TRY! IT!

I was almost glad to pay the hefty fee at the front desk when it was all over, proof that we both survived the ordeal. 

The assistant handed me a prescription for Tylenol 3 and detailed instructions for my daughter to take it alternating with Ibuprofen - in order to spare the liver - every three hours. 

We were gently escorted out to the car, a cheery and goofy girl, slightly high on sedatives, with a mouth full of absorbent bloody gauze and her pale, still queasy, unmedicated mother.

Post-Surgery Mix

As soon as it was all over I had Ariana take my special surgery mix of Arnica 200CH and Hypericum 200CH dissolved in water in a little dropper bottle every few minutes. I always use 2 pellets of each in a little dropper bottle. The pellets will dissolve quickly. Then I hit the bottle hard a few times against a book or against the palm of my hand to potentize the remedy, this is important. Alternatively the pellets can be taken directly.

​This is the trick, taking the remedies in water and repeating the dose frequently, even every few minutes. Ariana had to take it every 5-10 minutes for the first hour or so, then gradually less often. You or your child will be able to tell when you need another dose as the pain increases again. If you only take it once or twice it will not help that much. Arnica is for the trauma and to reduce swelling and bruising and Hypericum is more specifically for nerve pain. 

Bruno Groening

Ariana also held the photo that had been in her shirt on her lower right jaw where the impacted tooth had been removed. That tooth had required extra effort on both the dentist's and my part. His part trying to wrench it out, mine not to lose my lunch and my mind as described.

​The photo was of a man by the name of Bruno Groening, a German healer and mystic who helped tens of thousands of people during and after World War II.

 We had been introduced to his teachings about four years ago and Ariana in particular had received great help through his assistance on many occasions. He taught that there exists a special healing energy which he called the Heilstrohm (healing stream or healing current) that people could tune into for healing.

There are thousands of medically documented healings on record with the Bruno Groening Circle of Friends, including recoveries from severe depression, cancer, alcoholism, spinal deformities and others. 

Apparently, he had also asked God to imprint some of that healing energy on all of his photos so people could get help by using one if needed. There are many reports of people experiencing pain relief and various healing for themselves and others with these photos. 

Bruno also encouraged people to 'give him' their problems, no matter how big or small and to call on him for help for any concerns. He was very humble and said God did the healing and that he was just God's little helper.   

No Painkillers Needed

Ariana healed perfectly, without any complications and virtually no pain. She did not take a single tablet of pain medication. We never filled the prescription. On a few occasions when some discomfort surfaced she either took another dose of the remedy or asked Bruno for help. 

The dental assistant messaged Ariana a few days later to check up on her. Surprised about the quick and uneventful healing she spontaneously inquired about what her religion or spiritual beliefs were and what that photo was all about. 

Ariana was happy to share her story and very excited to tell me all about it too. 

I think that Ariana recovered so well thanks to a very skilled dentist who I am very grateful to as well as both homeopathy and Bruno following the procedure. When I had my teeth extracted I still had some discomfort, but it was relatively manageable, whereas Ariana experienced basically no pain at all. Her comment on managing the whole event without pain killers or antibiotics: "Boom! Take that modern medicine!"

Homeopathy in Dental Practice

Of course we also used the best modern medicine has to offer, such as sterile instruments, local freezing and wonderful skills. But why not use the best of both worlds?

I think homeopathy has a lot to offer in dental practice. Dead German mystics may be the icing on the cake and make for a good story, but the cake itself is pretty good already.

In my opinion pain and trauma management with homeopathy might reduce the need for pain meds by 50-90% which is great because it is non-toxic and just supports the natural healing process. The remedies are also very inexpensive at about $8 a tube and one tube contains enough  remedy to treat about 20 people. Dentists could just send patients home with a little bottle like I did for Ariana. When I prep patients for surgery I often give them such a bottle for $10. The cost to fill a prescription!

We also have remedies to deal with post-surgical complications such as bleeding and infections in homeopathy. One of Ariana's friends ended up in the hospital with an infection after her wisdom teeth extractions; she was amazed at Ariana's uneventful recovery.

I hope this article will help some others to prepare for dental surgery and maybe even inspire a few dentists to give it a try, it would not hurt, pun intended!


Update June 28/23: A new study was published comparing the efficacy of the remedy Arnica to Ibuprofen on postextraction pain in children:

Conclusion:
The researchers concluded that there was no difference between Arnica and ibuprofen in the postextraction pain management in 8–12-year-old children. In other words, Arnica worked just as well as Ibuprofen!

The sequence of drug administration had no crossover effect on the patients’ responses to pain. The taste of Arnica was preferred by children as compared to that of ibuprofen. There was no difference in the acceptance to the frequency of dosage between Arnica and ibuprofen.

Clinical Significance:
Arnica may be considered as an alternative to ibuprofen in managing postextraction pain in 8–12-year-old children, especially those with asthma or COPD or known allergy to ibuprofen.

Source: Thakur JH, Katre AN. Comparison of the Efficacy of Homeopathic Drug Arnica and Ibuprofen on Postextraction Pain in Children: A Triple-blind Randomized Controlled Trial. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent. 2022 May-Jun;15(3):332-337.

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Anke Zimmermann, BSc, FCAH