a healthy mouth

In our book, Sattva: The Ayurvedic Way to Live Well, we share some simple ways to keep the mouth, teeth, tongue and gums fragrant and healthy. 

At home, we have been trying to reduce the number of toothpastes we use that come in plastic tubes with plastic caps. While we like Kingfisher, Green People and Weleda toothpastes (the latter make pastes that come in a metal tube, with a recyclable plastic cap), we have also recently discovered the great minty, charcoal- and coconut-based pastes from Georganics, which come in handy reusable glass jars with metal lids (which we clean in boiling water and then fill with dried herbs from our allotment). We also make our own Ayurvedic Tooth Powder.

The Mouth
The Western norm of the plastic toothbrush and synthetic toothpaste is particularly at odds with the Ayurvedic view on oral hygiene. Most commercial toothpastes contain sodium lauryl sulphate – a foaming agent that causes the paste to bubble up and fill the mouth – which has been shown to irritate and dry out skin (and exacerbate mouth ulcers in those who are prone to them.) Many also contain triclosan, a chemical antibacterial that’s been prohibited by the US Food and Drug Administration (the FDA) for use in soap and body wash. 

Oral hygiene the Ayurvedic way is simpler, and has, hearteningly, been proven to be no less effective in the maintenance of healthy teeth and gums and fresh breath. Ayurvedic tooth powders are sold as powder for a reason – with no water or liquid in the formula, there’s no need to add preservatives. Simply wet your toothbrush and coat it with powder. Ayurvedic tooth powders can now be readily purchased online and most contain some or all of the following: cinnamon, ginger, salt, neem, holy basil, sage and clove. If you’d like to make your own, you’re welcome to try our recipe.

Oil Pulling
This much mythologized, though wholly pedestrian, ritual – the simple gargling with oil for some minutes first thing in the morning – has many benefits. While there are many Ayurvedic mouthwashes available (including those that are a mixture of herbs and medicinal oils), most Ayurvedic doctors recommend swilling with cold-pressed organic sesame oil as a gold standard gargle. Sesame is usually a very Pitta-increasing oil, but when gargled with, it’s only mildly so. Gargle for long enough for the texture of the oil to change – it should begin to froth and feel thinner in consistency. Three minutes is ample. 

While coconut oil is helpful for conditions where Pitta is extremely heightened, it’s not as widely recommended for oil pulling as sesame. The benefits of this simple morning ritual are too numerous to list here, but the entire chapter dedicated to this in Acharya Shunya’s wonderful book Ayurveda Lifestyle Wisdom is a rich resource. 

Tongue Scraping
The cleansing of the tongue is another cornerstone of Ayurvedic oral hygiene – you may have heard of ‘tongue scraping’, which, admittedly, doesn’t sound pleasant. Yet this simple, quick and effective ritual is wholly painless. It involves gently drawing a metal instrument down the length of the tongue to clear it of its coating. Tongue scraping quickly makes an enormous difference to the smell, health and function of the mouth – even helping to optimize our sense of taste, as our tastebuds are no longer buried beneath a furry residue. 

There are many types of tongue scraper available – stainless steel ones are most commonly sold in the West. Ayurveda recommends a gold-plated scraper for tridoshic balancing (which is, of course, expensive), silver-plated for Vata and Pitta balancing, and brass and copper for Pitta and Kapha balancing.

Tongue scraping is always carried out first thing in the morning, after teeth brushing and oil pulling, and before food. It’s fine to sip warm water upon waking, but to help your body benefit most from the tongue-scraping process, it makes sense to cleanse the mouth well of the night’s excreted residues before we drink or eat anything significant. 

Note: While it can be hard for those who have a particularly sensitive gag reflex to reach to the back of the tongue with their instrument, we’ve found that doing so slowly and gently, and breathing steadily through the nose or mouth at the same time, does help.

Chew Sticks 
Traditionally, a chew stick, rather than a toothbrush, is used. These can be sticks taken from the neem, liquorice, guava or arjuna trees (the latter is native to India). While chew sticks are not widely available in the West, they can be ordered online. 

Do check which sticks work best with your dosha, and Ayurvedic practitioners also advise against using them when you feel weak, hungover, headache-y or thirsty. Made from naturally antibacterial and aromatic woods, they are best seen as a wonderful, purifying addition, rather than a twice-daily tradition.