An old Welsh-American miner's "cure" for abscessed teeth (Kentucky).

My neighbor, who is Welsh-American (Evans), has told me that older family members (1890's to 1950's?) once used Carbide, from a miner's headlamp (C2H2) for tooth abscess.  Obviously, the pain and danger were extreme, but it seemed to work for people who had no access to dentistry or funds to pay for dentistry.  The nerves were literally, burned out (over-excited and deadened) from the "cure".  People were made of stronger 'stuff' back then, apparently!