In a famous scene from the movie "The Marathoner" a former Nazi dentist uses clove oil to relieve his victim, after subjecting her to dental mutilation to extort information from her.
The utility of cloves in relieving toothache has been known to man for several centuries, and continues to be exploited by modern medicine. Today, however, we prefer to use eugenol, an aromatic hydroxylated compound extracted from the essential oil of cloves.
Eugenol is used in odontoiartrico in many circumstances, even if a little less than in the past.
First of all, due to the aforementioned analgesic activities and to the modest antibacterial activity, eugenol is included in many products for oral hygiene and in bench-top palliatives against toothache (in the latter case the product must be applied directly to the tooth in pain). Clearly eugenol is only a temporary relief from toothache and cannot replace the dentist's care.
Together with zinc oxide, eugenol is used in temporary fillings, thanks to the good analgesic action for sensitive teeth and for inflammation of the dental pulp.
In addition to temporary restorations, eugenol was also used as a substrate for definitive silver amalgam fillings until a few years ago.
