Dry Needling is an alternative medicine technique that has a lot of similarities with acupuncture. It is used by trained professionals to ease pain and tense pressure in the muscles and body tissues of the patient. Dental pain is one of the worst pains anyone can experience, as the area inside and outside the mouth has the most nerves than in any other part of the body. In this article, we will explain how Dry Needling works, the pros and cons and finally the overall dry needling effectiveness for dental pain. But the question is, can dry needling help with tooth pain?
How Dry Needling Works
Dry Needling is a so-called invasive procedure which means that you need to insert objects which in this case are the needles into the patient’s body. Medication does not usually work to relieve pressure in muscles, the best cure is to have the muscles massaged in some way. Dry Needling is a form of massage that massages the muscles that are not near the surface of the body and are therefore hard to massage effectively using standard methods.
Thin needles of different lengths are inserted in the muscles and tissues where the patient is experiencing pain, the points where there are inserted are known as pressure points with the medical name for it being ‘Myofascial Trigger Points‘. When the needle is inserted in one of those pressure points it causes blood to flow in that specific point causing the muscles to ease up and relax reducing the pain the patient is experiencing.
Pros
- Research suggests that is an effective way to minimize pain in places in the body that cannot be treated by medicine or the basic massage.
- The methods are similar to other alternative medicine practices such as Acupuncture and Cupping therapy. The similarities are that they both draw blood to the affected areas in order to release tension and reduce pain allowing for the body to then recover naturally.
- The average cost of Dry Needling in the United States is $40 per session which is not too expensive and worth it if you want to relieve some pain.
Cons 
- Dry Needling is only effective for dental pain if the pain is muscle or tissue related if the pain is coming from a nerve connected to a tooth or from the gums it will not be possible to treat it with dry needling .
- The cost will put some people off that cannot afford it, it is not worth paying for it if you really cannot afford it as it is unlikely to remove all the dental pain you will be experiencing.
- Dry needling is what is known as an ‘invasive’ procedure as you are inserting needles in your body which always carries the risk of infection if not done with the necessary professionalism.
- The American Physical Therapy Association says that dry needling should not be used as the main method of treating pain, instead it should be used as a complementary procedure to other more medically recognized forms of therapy such as therapeutic exercises.
Summary
Dry Needling is definitely something you should take a look at as an extra treatment if you suffering from dental pain if you can afford it and have the time for it. The dry needling effectiveness will vary based on each individual case depending on if the pain is coming from a trigger point in the muscles or other parts in or around the mouth that can’t be treated as effectively by dry needling. It can have noticeable benefits but it is not a miracle cure and always consult your dentist to see what he will suggest as a treatment for your dental pain. You can consult DRHomeDoctorsPerth.com.au if you need more help in dealing with pain.
