Dental health

Ayurveda for a healthy life- 71/2026 on 1.3.2026

4. Dental health

Animals do not have to brush their teeth (nor did the pre-historic humans), since they consume fibrous as well hard food that keeps their teeth clean automatically. Modern social life has changed the eating habits. Now the food is cooked; hence, it hardly requires strong chewing. If we study the anatomy of dentures that existed 5,000 years ago, we learn that children used to have complete set of 24 milk-teeth and adults had 32 teeth. Now, we see that children have 20 milk-teeth & adults have 28-32 teeth. This indicates the gradual reduction in the number, size and
shape of the teeth. In today’s times, food gets stuck between the teeth, gums and cavities, leading to their decay. This is why, it is necessary to brush the teeth after meals and prevent tooth decay.

Ayurveda has a solution on this problem.

Nowadays, we clean our teeth with a brush. Move the brush from the top to the bottom while cleaning the upper teeth; and from the bottom to the top while cleaning the lower teeth, meaning, press the brush against the gums and then move on to the teeth. As a result, food particles that have got stuck between the gums and the teeth will get removed. The food particles stuck between the teeth should be removed with a clean tooth pick.

A. Diet for healthy gums

Sr No	Particulars	Beneficial diet	Harmful diet
1.	Cereals	Wheat, rice	–
2.	Pulses	Sesame, black gram, green peas, chickpeas	–
3.	Meat	Goat, deer, cock, common quail, sparrow	Fish
4.	Milk	Ghee	–
5.	Fruits	Mango, Indian gooseberry, pomegranate, dates, jackfruit, banana, coconut, almond, figs	Raw mango
6.	Vegetables	Ash gourd, pumpkin, onion	Drumstick, brinjal
7.	Sugar	Sugarcane, jaggery, honey	–
8.	Others	–	Pungent and salty food items

B. Diet for healthy teeth

Sr No	Particulars	Beneficial diet	Beneficial diet
1.	Cereals	Wheat, yava	Starchy food
2.	Pulses	Black gram, chickpea, sesame, green gram, masur	–
3.	Milk	Milk, butter, ghee	Curds
4.	Sugar	Jaggery, honey	Sugar
5.	Meat	Deer, common quail, cock, crab, sparrow, peacock, goat, fish	–
6.	Vegetables	Ash gourd, onion, brinjal	–
7.	Fruits	Mango, Indian gooseberry, pomegranate	Lemon, tamarind, sour fruits
8.	Spices	Garlic	Mustard
9.	Other	–	Excessive ushna, sheeta, sweet, sticky food, betelnut, chocolate

C. How to make the teeth strong ?

 1. Chew on sugarcane

2. Daily eat 40 gm of black sesame seed. Chew on it and drink cold water. It makes the teeth strong and white.

5. Mouth

A. Function of the mouth

Mouth is the entry point of food. The food is welcomed here and that’s how the arrangement of mouth is done. The lips actually play a major role in protecting the digestive tract since they check every item being consumed. Baby food, meaning milk, is initially sucked with the lips only. When a morsel is chewed or swallowed, the lips cover the mouth.

2. Necessary diet for a healthy mouth

Sr No	Particulars	Beneficial diet	Harmful diet
1.	Cereals	All cereals older than one year	New cereals
2.	Pulses	Green gram, kulith (horse gram)	Black gram
3.	Meat	Mutton, chicken, eggs	Fish, crab
4.	vegetables	Musli, bitter gourd, snake gourd, tender radish	–
5.	Milk	Ghee	Curds
6.	Sugarcane	Sugar	Jaggery
7.	Taste	Bitter	Sour

3. Brushing is important to prevent mouth diseases

4. Spiritual treatment for mouth diseases

A. Recite the Gayatrimantra 10,000 times

B. Offer gold and rice to the pious

C. Take atonement of kruchchhra, atikruchchhra and chandrayan

D. Spiritual treatment to keep the tongue and mouth healthy and free of disease

Bijmantra and Mantra

1. Gayatrimantra – ॐ भूः भुव: स्वः । ॐ तत् सवितुर्वरेण्यं । भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि । धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात (Om Bhur Bhuvaha Swaha l Om Tat Savitur Varenyam l Bhargo Devasya Dhimahi l Dhiyo Yo Naha Prachodayat ll )

2. Deity Varun’s mantra – ॐ वरुणाय नमः (Om Varunaya Namaha)