05/29/2026
Toothache plant (Spilanthes / Acmella oleracea) is a tropical daisy-family herb famous for its electric, mouth-tingling flowers and long history as a folk remedy for tooth pain.
A bite of history
- The toothache plant is native to tropical Brazil and likely derived from a South American Acmella species, spreading later through other tropical and subtropical regions worldwide.
- Indigenous communities in the Amazon chewed the fresh flower heads to numb tooth, mouth, and throat pain, which is how it earned the common name “toothache plant.”
- From South America it traveled with people and trade routes to Africa, India, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, and northern Australia, where it became part of local traditional medicine systems.
Many names, one wild flower
- You’ll see it sold as spilanthes, Acmella oleracea, Spilanthes acmella, jambu, paracress, electric daisy, buzz buttons, eyeball plant, and even “nature’s toothbrush.”
- The button-like yellow flowers with dark red centers look like tiny eyeballs, which is why “eyeball plant” stuck as one of its more playful nicknames.
What it does in your mouth
- The flowers and leaves are loaded with spilanthol, a bioactive compound that creates a strong tingling, buzzing, then numbing sensation on your tongue and gums.
- Chewing a flower head can bring on a wave of saliva, a cooling feeling, and temporary pain relief, so it’s been used for toothache, sore throats, mouth ulcers, and dry mouth.
- Because of this effect, extracts from spilanthes are used in some modern mouthwashes and oral-care formulations for soothing irritated gums.
Traditional medicine uses
- In folk medicine across South America, Africa, and Asia, spilanthes has been used for far more than toothaches: healers have turned to it for fevers, colds, coughs, stomach troubles, and even rheumatism.
- Traditional uses include treating gastritis, dysentery, diarrhea, liver troubles, wounds, and skin infections, and it has been valued as antibacterial, antifungal, and sometimes antiviral.
- Some cultures considered it a tonic or aphrodisiac, and it has even been used as an insecticidal plant and mosquito-killing ingredient in natural pesticides.
Fun and unusual facts
- The flowers are used in “molecular” cocktails and dishes as buzz buttons or Sichuan buttons to give an electric, mouthwatering kick to drinks and food.
- Young leaves are edible and add a spicy, slightly citrusy, tingling flavor to salads, soups, stews, and curries, especially in parts of China and Southeast Asia.
- In India the buds have even been mixed into chewing to***co for their intense numbing and salivation-boosting effects.
- Herbalists sometimes call it “nature’s toothbrush” because it stimulates saliva, supports gum health, and has antimicrobial properties in the mouth.
$5 each(4”)
Full plant list
Theurbannaturalists.com
Self checkout anytime
