are still human and feel pain, even though they claim they have transcended human suffering and misfortune. In effect, the character is rebuking his friend for trying to make him feel better with philosophical platitudes. The Scottish poet, Robert Burns wrote "Address to the Toothache" in 1786, inspired after he suffered from it. The poem elaborates on the severity of toothache, describing it as the "hell o' a' diseases" (hell of all diseases). A number of plants and trees include "toothache" in their common name. Prickly ash (Zanthoxylum americanum) is sometimes termed "toothache tree", and its bark, "toothache bark"; whilst Ctenium Americanum is sometimes termed "toothache grass", and Acmella oleracea is called "toothache plant". Pellitory (Anacyclus pyrethrum) was traditionally used to relieve toothache. In Kathmandu, Nepal, there is a shrine to Vaishya Dev, the Newar god of toothache. The shrine consists of part of an old tree to which sufferers of toothache nail a rupee coin in order to ask the god to relieve their pain. The lump of wood is called the "toothache tree" and is said to have been cut from the legendary tree, Bangemudha. On this street, many traditional tooth pullers still work and many of the city's dentists have advertisements placed next to the tree. The phrase toothache in the bones is sometimes used to describe the pain in certain types of diabetic neuropathy. Notes References External links WebMD Dental Health & Toothaches Mayo Clinic Toothache First Aid U.S. National Library of Medicine: Toothaches Pain Headaches Medical emergencies Orofacial pain