Toothache-Killer Cigarettes

Los Angeles Times - Aug 12, 1991



A search of the patent records turned up a 1994 Chinese patent (CN1106283A) for these 'toothache-killer cigarettes':

The toothache cigarette is prepared from paniculate swallowwort root, dahurian angelica root, asarum herb, European verbena verb, turtle shell, honeycomb and tobacco shreds through mixing and grinding the first six, mixing with tobacco shreds, rolling into cigarettes or loading in sealed box or bag. Smoking it can immediately stop toothache with effective rate of 98% as the active components in Chinese-medicinal materials are released when heated.

I wonder what happens if you smoke them when you don't have a toothache. Would your mouth go numb?
     Posted By: Alex - Wed Jan 26, 2022
     Category: Patents | Smoking and Tobacco | Teeth





Comments
That combination, depending on how much you toke, could make your whole skull go numb. I smoke and occasionally vape, but I'd think twice about inhaling the hot vapors from a couple of those herbs.

Before anyone thinks to try recreating the recipe: "turtle shell" is sort of a wildcard. If they mean tortoise shell, there are international laws concerning buying/selling/transporting it, similar to the restrictions on ivory. Even if it's just regular turtle, there are several types widely used in traditional Chinese medicine, and they're not always interchangeable. Even the same species is sometimes divided into pond, lake, and river varieties for some medications.
Posted by Phideaux on 01/26/22 at 11:45 PM
Smoke this stuff for a year, and you can expect several body systems to quit working, in addition to becoming a 'numb-skull'.

On the plus side, we can all be grateful that we aren't named Guo-fu.
Posted by Virtual in Carnate on 01/27/22 at 09:39 AM
Frankly, I'd put more faith in kretek. At least cloves do have a proven effect on tooth aches.

And I can personally attest to them. Cloves, that is. Not kretek.
Posted by Richard Bos on 01/29/22 at 03:25 PM
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