Ayurvedic oral-hygiene Print
Written by Horváth-Kovács Diána   

 Szájápolás Ayurvéda módraThe process in the title is part of the daily routine and called ‘Dinacharya’ in Ayurveda. This is a collective idea which summarizes those rituals, which helps us to do something for our health every day. But why does the western world suffer from dental problems beside it’s toothpaste usage?

The tooth symbolize the processing of our impressions from the material world, and our cud on them. Usually those people has tooth problems who does not chew themselves out enough on a given problem, they just skate it over. At the same time tooth is the symbol of vitality and aggression.

When we talk about oral hygiene it is not only about cleaning the teeth, but it is about cleaning the tongue and throat also. The mouth is the first station of digesting the food as the production of digestive saps and it’s chopping work begins here. Proper chewing of the food is the key element for the digestive processes. The most proper we chew the food the easiest work our stomach, where the digestion takes place, would have. We need to have healthy teeth and strong gum to be able to chew correctly and to be able to feel the flavours. It is suggested to clean our teeth twice a day (morning and night) with one of the ayurvedic tooth-care products, which is made from natural herbs. The advantages of ayurvedic toothpaste are: they made of natural herbs, refreshes our breath, strengthens our gum and they do not destroy the enamel of the tooth. We should avoid to consume sweet refreshers and sweet desserts, because they do not just destroy the enamel of the tooth with sticking onto it, but they extract the important minerals out of our body, which building up our bones, so does our teeth. Regular consumpotion of fruits of the sea, greens, and dairy products strengthens the teeth. 

PRAKRUTIES AND THE TEETH

Teeth of Vata type of man is usually thin and longish, fragile and curved. Pitta man's gum is red, his teeth are soft, medium sized, thick, and could be sensitive to heat. Teeth of Kapha man are wide, very strong and attractive, his gum is pinkish, oiled. Vata type of man should choose a toothpaste with sweet basis flavour, Pitta man should choose bitter one, and Kapha man should choose sour.   

TOOTHCARE PRACTICES

Teeth of Vata type of man is usually thin and longish, fragile and curved. Pitta man's gum is red, his teeth are soft, medium sized, thick, and could be sensitive to heat. Teeth of Kapha man are wide, very strong and attractive, his gum is pinkish, oiled.
Besides choosing the proper toothpaste for our teeth we can care our gum also with regular massage, which is recommended daily with the following mixture:
 
Let us buy 5 parts of alum (can be bought in groceries; it is antiseptic an helps to pull together the gum), 2 parts of rock-salt (has calming effect), 3 parts of black pepper (antiseptic) and 1 part of curcuma powder (gum-contracting, antiseptic and helps increasing circulation). You can use this mixture merely, but you can also mix it with some sesame oil. With the help of your first finger knead the mixture to your gum!
 
If you do not like the above procedure let’s mash some strawberry and use it to massage your gum. Thanks to it’s acid flavour the strawberry-mash cares the gum well like a tonic.
 
The different dental problems are the consequences of the disequilibrium of the doshas:
          Dental problems with excessing Vata function: toothache, cavity, gum-bleeding, swellings
          Vata and Kapha overfunctioning cause the irregular, abnormal appearance of the teeth
          Vata and Pitta overfunctioning cause sensitivity of the teeth and cavity
          Pitta type of problem is: discolouration of the teeth (black or blue teeth)
          Loosing the teeth is a complex problem, the unbalance of all the three doshas are in the background in these cases.  

CARE OF THE TONGUE AND THE THROAT

The surface of the tongue gives us information about the process in our intestinal-system. If our tongue is covered with white fur it means that we have Ama, accumulated toxin in our digestive system. This is not a nice sight, and also does not make our breath attractive. So we should remove the fur every morning to avoid fur to get into the tissues of our digestive system during the daily meals. In India people do it with a special spoon made of silver, copper or stainless steel. We should do it gentle way, especially if we have inflammation in the mouth or on the tongue.  If the fur deposited at the back of the tongue it reflects colonic problems, if it is deposited in the middle of the tongue it reflects problems in the stomach and in the small gut. The unpleasant breath is not only embarrassing for us, but for the other people also. To treat it Ayurveda suggests:
• drink a half cup of aloe Vera juice twice a day, or
• chew fennel after the meals. This is an inevitable part of the Indian dinings. I always ate fennel after every meal when I was in India, so did I on my long journey last time. In India they serve fennel itself, or mixed with sugar, and we can find it on every table in the restaurants. It not only insures good breath, but helps with the digestive process also.
 
Let us clean the throat also from the accumulated slime every morning. We can do this with a mixture of: 1 pinch of salt, 1 pinch of curcuma powder, some warm water. We can calm the painful, inflamed throat with a herb-infusion (see below), or with chewing licorice, or with eating honey. The herb-infusion is calming, antibacterial and antiseptic, so does the honey. Ingredients of the herb-infusion for gargle:
• 1 teaspoon of sage
• 1 teaspoon of dried plantain
• 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon of dried honeysuckle (Lonicera; be careful, it’s crop is toxic!)
We should put these ingredients onto a half liter boiled water for about 10-15 minutes and let the substances soaking out. It would bring relief very soon!
 
One day I received a herbs-mix from one of my teachers at the ayurvedic clinic. He told me to rub my gums and teeth with this mixture. It was strange for me but I tried. It was fantastic! My mouth and teeth became perfectly clean and the herbs left a very pleasant flavour in my mouth, not talking about the freshness of my breath. It is very easy to go into the shop and buy a toothpaste, but it made me think over that none of the toothpastes was able to give me as fresh feeling as that simple mixture did. Not only the refreshing feeling remained in my memories, but the fact also, that I used only natural, healing ingredients, from which I do not need to be afraid. So I just encourage everybody not to choose the easiest way in the toothcare (which can be called exclusive and useful only with some doubt), but let try to use the simple, natural substances which have millennial traditions and medical results also!