1. Oral
Health & Hygiene
The
Holistic Way
Dr.
Shriniwas
Kashalikar

2. Oral hygiene is well known but its practice
and advantages can be improved if it is
conceptualized from physiological point of
view. Hence some well experienced steps
are given to improve oral hygiene.
Steps
Please understand that oral hygiene is not
merely meant for dental health. If
practiced in a way given below it can
improve health of brain, salivary glands,
sinuses, taste buds, gums and teeth.
After getting up in morning gargle mouth
with plain water or slightly salted water.
Salt makes it antimicrobial. Rub you palate
with your thumb. This may appear clumsy.
But rubbing of the whole palate stimulates

3. the undersurface and floors of the sinuses
and presumably helps improve the
circulation in the sinuses. This can prevent
congestion and stagnation of blood and
prevent infection in he sinuses. It can also
help cure of infection. This is important
because mere antibiotics may not penetrate
[even if they are powerful] the sites of
infection in the sinuses. Rub your upper
gums from inside and outside with either
your thumb or fingers. This would be
useful to improve the blood supply to your
upper gums and upper teeth. Rub the inner
and outer aspects of your lower gums. This
would improve the circulation of lower
gums and lower teeth. Rubbing of inner
and outer aspects of upper and lower gums
can improve the health of salivary ducts
and their openings from parotid and
submandibular glands and sublingual

4. glands. Rub the undersurface of your
tongue. This will improve the health of
sublingual salivary ducts and their
openings. Rub the upper surface of your
tongue. This would improve the health of
taste buds and taste receptors.
Oral cavity, oral structures and tongue
have large representation in sensory
homunculus (Representation of the body in
the brain) and hence rubbing of oral cavity
would stimulate these parts of brain. This
is a unique and desirable stimulation not
possible by any other means!
Using tooth powders containing ayurvedic
herbs have added advantages. Hence one
can use Kaat (catechu), Tirfal (tomar
seeds), Halad (turmeric), Amala (emblica
officinalis), Harada (terminalia chebulia),

5. Neem (azadiracta indica) etc. You may use
tooth brush and tooth paste of your choice
in addition to the steps described above.
Tips
The steps described are totally harmless. It
is better not to believe or disbelieve blindly.
It is better to provisionally accept the steps,
try out and then develop conviction about
their utility or otherwise.
Prayer
For those who like to pray, following is a
Sanskrit prayer offered to the herbs used in
the tooth powder.
AYURBALAM YASHO VARCHAS
PRAJA PASHUNWASU NI CHA
BRAHMA PRAJNAN CHA MEDHA CHA
TVAN NO DEHI VANASPATE

6. This prayer is a request for long life,
physical strength, success, sharp
intelligence, good progeny and above all
creativity and universal perspective. The
details of the meaning can be searched with
help of Sanskrit into English dictionary.
Prayerful attitude makes every activity
sublime and oriented towards one's own
and global welfare.
Warnings
There are no clinical trials known to the
author, regarding the authenticity of these
steps. Hence these steps have to be if at all,
followed by one's choice, at one's own risk.
One should be careful if there are ulcers,
lesions etc., though by using fingers you are
safer than while using brush. Because, you

7. can feel and judge small boils, abscesses etc
with fingers, which you can NOT feel with
brush! Hence, brushing in fact can be far
more damaging than using fingers.
Things You'll Need
You need nothing if you want to only rub
your oral cavity. You need a tooth powder
if you aim at additional oral health
promotion and hygiene.
Sources and Citations
Conceptual Stress: Understanding and
Management: Dr. Shriniwas Kashalikar