SECOND RULE OF DEENCHARYA- THE CLASSIC DAILY ROUTINE vs DECEPTIVE MARKETING

Hello everyone !! Last time we have seen first rule of DEENCHARYA. Now we will learn the second rule. Rule is very simple that we should clean our teeth and mouth every morning and after eating food . We all know this rule, but this is not all about tooth brushing only !! Ayurveda has explained all oral care science in few lines only. On the contrary, though the orodental health science is much vast today, still there is no decline in prevalence of orodental diseases. Almost 60-90 percent population of all age groups is suffering with any of periodontal disease globally. Many causes are behind this huge prevalence and one important of them is MISLEADING ADVERTISING AND DECEPTIVE MARKETING !!

oral care product's market is fully blown up nowadays, specially in developing and developed countries. In 2017  the global oral care market was estimated worth about 39.47 billion US dollars. In India only, it was more than 550 million US dollars . Thus we could understand how tough the competition is !

 This competition is leading market towards misleading and our image driven society is getting driven too!! 

So today we will learn how to take orodental hygein care as per ayurveda and simultaneously will explore the tricky marketing fundas!!

 All Ayurveda's authentic books like sushruta  samhita ,Charak samhita , Ashtang rhiday  have explained about how to take care of oral health. Here we will see the refferanace from 'Ashtang rhiday', the greatest ayurveda book written by the great author and physician of Ayurveda named 'Vagbhat '. 

So let's start

ARKA NYAGRODH KHADIR KARANJ KAKUBHADIJAM | 

PRAATAHA BHUKTWA CHA MRIDU AGRAM KASHAY KATU TIKTAKAM || 

KANINYA AGRA SOME STHAUALYAM PRAGUNAM DWADASH ANGULAM | 

BHAKSHAYAT DANTA PAWANAM DANTA MANSANI ABAADHAYAN ||

               (ASHTANG RHIDAY SUTRASTHAN CHAPTER NO. 2) 

Meaning of this verse is-

Use DANTAPAWAN that is chew stick or teeth cleaning twig, every morning and after eating food. This stick should be as thick as the tip of our little finger and length should be about 12 fingers long. Also it should be soft enough on gums. Mostly twigs of plants are used for that.

 Chew stick is well known as DATUN and It has hystory of more than 3500BC, but Ayurveda has specified it's measurements and species according to it's tastes. Verity of species are famous worldwide for obtaining chew sticks . Ayurveda says that one should use twigs of plants which are tasting KASHAY (ASTRINGENT), KATU ( PUNGENT) OR TIKT   ( BITTER) .Plants having any one or combination of above mentioned tastes are better to obtain chew sticks.

Here are some examples of plants for chew sticks given in authentic ayurveda books- 

1)ARKA - Calotropis Gigantea 

2) NYAGRODH- Ficus Bengalis, also known as                               banyan tree

3) KHADIR - Acacia Catechu 

4)KARANJ - Pongamia pinnata Pierre 

5)KAKUBHA- Terminalia Arjuna 

Also miswak ( salvadora persica ) is famous and easily available everywhere.

All these herbs have antibacterial, antiinflammatory ,and antioxidant properties due to their chemical composition like flavonoids etc.

ADVANTAGES OF CHEW STICK OVER THE  TOOTH BRUSH- 

1) While comparing with toothbrush chew sticks are far more convenient both ecologically and economically.

2) It's easy to take hygiene care of twigs , infact we can replace them repeatedly.

3)Chew sticks don't need to apply any toothpaste on them . We can use only twig after fraying it at one end. Medicinal properties of chew twig plays the role of  brush and paste too.

BENEFITS OF CHEW STICK OVER TOOTHPASTE WITH RESPECT TO IT'S INGREDIENTS-

Modern Toothpaste has hystory of only around 200yrs. In 9th century toothpaste was invented by Iraqi fashion designer ZIRYAB .But tooth paste came in general use in 19th century only.

Basic ingredients of modern Toothpaste -

1) ABRASIVE - 

Abrasives constitute at least 50%of typical Toothpaste. These are insoluble particles helping to remove plaque from teeth. Abrasives used in toothpastes are mostly calcium carbonate, calcium hydrogen, phosphates, silicas etc, But recently charcoal is  becoming part of abrasives too. Now if someone had got really Sharp memory, then I would like to remind them something. Just two decades ago , when Colgate had been launched it's new tooth powder , that time this multinational company had claimed that , coarse toothpowders or charcoal powder could harm tooth enamel . I remember when I was school going, that time one add was coming on television presented by famous actor Sunil Shetty ,suggesting that charcoal is harsh and can cause scratch over the enamel. While Colgate toothpowder has very fine particles which could gently take care of  teeth. And  recently Colgate has been launched new charcoal toothpaste , and now actress Lara Datta is saying on Colgate's behalf ,"kehte hai charcoal gazab ki safayi karta hai !!!"( It's heard saying that charcoal is deep cleanser).

  So mean!!

 This is the biggest example of DECEPTIVE MARKETING . So simply think about it ,if buying this costly charcoal containing so called abrasive toothpaste is better or medicated chew stick with very low cost is better? This betterment is both for teeth and pockets!!

 2) FLUORIDE - 

Fluoride is the second basic ingredient of toothpastes . It is added as cavity protection in toothpastes. We all know that high dose of fluoride is toxic and it stains over teeth too. It is claimed that quantity of fluoride is balanced with respect to risk of harm . But still it is possible in young children to swallow more fluoride from toothpaste than the recommended daily intake. And though clinical trials are suggesting that fluoride is protecting from caries and reduces gingivitis too . Still it is always better to select nontoxic products. As I mentioned earlier chew sticks are well-known for their antibacterial, antiinflammatory and antioxidant properties and are nontoxic too .

3) SURFACTANTS-

 Sodium laureth sulfate is generally added in toothpastes as an surfactant. It is the chemical responsible for the foaming action of toothpaste ,but it also interferes with the functioning of your taste buds. That is the reason why everything tastes so bad right after brushing. It can cause recurrent mouth ulcers and also it could be contaminated with carcinogenic biproducts like 1,4- dioxane while manufacturing. We always watch on television that bubbling action of toothpaste gives us clean teeth and fresh breath (tazgi Ka dhamaka!!) . But nobody tells us that the foaming agent used is the chemical which is also found in washing powders and detergents etc. Also it could be so harmful as to create carcinogenic changes in body. Not only deceptive but also disgusting!! I will not say more about tree twigs. You must try it and then only you could get  to know what fresh breath is! 

4) ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS-

These are the most controversial contents of any tooth paste. Dental plaque, which is mainly composed of various aerobic and anaerobic bacteria,is the main etiological agent for initiation and progression of periodontal diseases . These bacteria feed on sugar and starch we eat . While consuming sugar, bacteria produce lactic acid by the process called fermentation. That's why we all know that we should  not sip or snack sweet recurrently. Then still why all toothpastes are sweet in taste? Manufacturers claim that these sweeteners are artificial and bacteria can't ferment them. Let's see the real truth. 

Sweetners used in tooth paste are mostly aspartame, saccharin , sorbitol etc. 

Aspartame is artificial sweetener which on degradation gives methanol. Methanol is also present in fruits and vegetables. But in fruits and vegetables methanol is firmly bonded to pectin, allowing it to be safely pass through digestive tract. But it's not so with methanol created by aspartame. Hence it can cause methanol poisoning.

Saccharin is another artificial sweetener. It is claimed that saccharin can not be fermented, so can't create cavities. But truth is saccharin desturbes gut flora and alters it's metabolic functioning. One study on rodents suggest that saccharin can cause bladder cancer and lymphoma. 

Sorbitol is very common toothpaste sweetner.  It is contraindicated in sorbitol malabsorption syndrome, otherwise it can cause G.I. bleeding and hypovolemia, immunosuppression etc. It's overdose can cause severe diarrhea. Also it is not true that bacteria can't feed on it. Sorbitol can also be slowly fermented in mouth by Streptococcus Mutans and can cause tooth decaying. 

Xylitol is a sugar alcohol which is getting fem nowadays as a toothpaste sweetner. But very poor studies are available about its efficacy and safety. Some studies even suggest it's toxicity like diarrhoea and palpitation. 

 So this is the fact about so called safe artificial sweeteners. 

But the question is what is the need of sweetners in toothpastes? It's role is none other than giving taste. And the taste comes on steep price. That's why Ayurveda has specified tastes of teeth cleaning twigs and sweet taste is contraindicated for toothbrushing . As mentioned earlier , only astringent, bitter and pungent tasting trees are allowed to be obtain dental twigs from. As per taste action dogma , above three tastes have cleansing, dehydrating and antibacterial properties. 

 Astringent taste of plants is mostly due to phenols and tannins. These components precipitates proteins of saliva , hence give drying, shrinking sensation in mouth. In this way they restrict oral secretions and inhibit suitable oral invironment for bacterial growth. 

Bitter taste is mostly because of alkaloids. Alkaloids have wide range of activities like analgesic, antibacterial, antihyperglycemic etc. 

Pungent tasting trees have chemical composition like volatile oils , glycosides etc. This clears mouth thoroughly and gives fresh sensation in mouth. Also clears off the foul smelling of oral cavity. 

See how cleverly and carefully Ayurveda legends have selected herbs for toothbrushing!! And given such a simple theory to protect from periodontal diseases. What we just need is a DATUN or Chew stick and many of orodental problems will get resolved without any major side effect. 

So this is all about benefits of chew stick over toothpaste. But one more thing we should remember always, our oral cavity has absorbent inner layer due to good vascularity . Whatever chemical u are putting in mouth will get absorbed and will enter directly in systematic circulation bypassing GIT. While unlike plastic brush and harmful toothpastes, teeth cleaning twigs are neither harmful to our health nor to our invironment. 

Thus it's no wonder that chew sticks have attracted attention of WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION. WHO now recommends and encourages the use of miswak as an inexpensive and effective oral hygiene tool.

Hence it is proven that Ayurveda provides us a complete health without any deceptiveness. Because it don't needs marketing!!

Think about it and we will see in next article about contraindications of tooth brushing and causes behind them.