2.8. Pharmaceutical use of Tooth Sticks

Tooth sticks were usually meant for cleansing teeth, but they were a remedy for mouth diseases and improving appetite also. It repels the bad odour of mouth also. While describing the oral hygiene, Caraka refers to the necessity and advantages of tooth brushing. Tooth sticks were perfumed also. Bṛhatsaṃhitā and Gandhasāra refer to some recipes for perfuming tooth sticks. Dantakāṣṭhalakṣṇādhyāya of Bṛhatsaṃhitā^[1] gives a detailed account of the different kinds of tooth sticks and also some beliefs connected with them. In the perfuming process, the tooth sticks immersed in the mixture of cow’s urine and Harītakī powder were perfumed with a kind of scented water prepared from the mixture of sandal, cardamom, cassia bark, Añjana, honey, pepper, Nāgakesara and costus mixed in equal proportions. In the final stage of the process, these sticks were powdered with the mixture of aforesaid ingredients in different quantities. The prescribed tooth powder is considered good for providing freshness of complexion, facial lustre, cleanliness and fragrance of the mouth and sweet speech.

Caraka^[2] recommends the following plants for making tooth brushes—Karañja (Pongamia Pinnata Merr), Karavīra (Nerium Indicum Mill), Arka (Calotropics Gigantea), Mālatī (Aganosma dichotoma), Kakubha (Terminalia Arjuna) and Asana (Terminalia Tomentosa). Crushed end of the sticks of such plants will have a pungent, astringent or a bitter taste.