A healthy buccal cavity!!

We learnt many interesting facts about brushing of teeth in the previous blog. What are the other practices to be followed to maintain a good oral hygiene? Our acharyas have explained a few other practices for a healthy oral cavity.

Acharya Charaka has explained about the practice of tongue scraping called as ‘Jihwa nirlekhana’. The tongue scrapers should be curved and should not have sharp edges. The material used to make tongue scrapers should be of metals like Suvarna (gold), Raupya (silver), Tamra (copper), Trapu (tin) and Pittala (brass). The tongue should be scraped regularly as the dirt deposited at the root of the tongue obstructs expiration and gives rise to foul smell.

Further, the concept of mouth fresheners is also explained by our acharyas. A person who desires to have clarity of taste and good smell should chew the fruits of jathi (Myristica fragrans), katuka (Hibiscus abelmoschus), puga (Areca catechu), kankola (Piper cubeba), ela (Elletaria cardamomum), lavanga (Syzgium cumini), fresh leaf of tambula (Piper betle) and extract of karpoora (Cinnamomum camphora). Interesting! Isn’t it?

Additionally, the concept of Gandusha (gargles) is explained by Acharya charaka and acharya Vagbhata to maintain a good oral hygiene. Gargling with tila (til) oil is beneficial for strength of jaws, depth of voice, flabbiness of face and for excellent taste perception. A person who follows ‘taila gandusha’ regularly never experiences dryness of throat nor do his lips get cracked and his teeth will be deep rooted without caries. He will not have any toothache nor any tooth sensitivity and his teeth will be able to chew even the hardest of the substances.

Ever wondered how our forefathers had such healthy gums and teeth? All the above-mentioned practices are followed from yesteryears and have contributed to the good oral hygiene of our previous generations. I hope we adopt these practices in our life for a healthy buccal cavity.

I hope you had a great time reading the blog on oral hygiene. Stay safe and follow my blog Shriphala for further updates.