Before giving birth to a child, I didn't know what toothache was, and I never found tooth decay. During the two years of pregnancy and lactation, I often eat five or six meals a day because of the high nutritional demand, and usually I have to add meals after feeding in the middle of the night. When the child was about 3 years old, he found himself with two big holes, one of which was treated with root canal therapy.
It is said that it was caused by eating too much during lactation, but I often ate snacks before pregnancy, but I never ate them. Dentists believe that tooth decay is due to the acidic environment of the mouth, bad brushing, and love to eat sweet and irritating food, while I have a light diet, hardly eat sweets, and brush my teeth and rinse my mouth every day, so I am very confused. What is the cause of tooth decay?
During the one or two years of going to the dentist, I found some interesting things. Many people clean their teeth diligently every day, such as high fluoride toothpaste and dental floss. They never eat sweets and try their best, but their teeth are still rotting. Some people don't even bother to brush their teeth after drinking tea, eating cakes and eating supper every day, but they never have cavities. It can be seen that eating habits and cleaning teeth are not the only ways to ensure no dental caries.
What is the reason in the eyes of TCM?
1, damp-heat in spleen and stomach
Chen Shiduo, a famous doctor in Qing Dynasty, explained the causes of tooth decay as follows:
People eat too much fat, and their teeth are broken and hurt. If they walk around, it's insect pain. Husband's teeth are bones, the strongest of which, how can he hide bugs? I don't know if I ate too much fat, so the hot air is in my stomach, and the stomach fire rushes between my mouth and my teeth every day, while the moisture takes advantage of it, and the damp heat fights hard, so the insects eat in my teeth.
At first, I stopped one or two bugs, but after a long time, it became more and more, so I lost my teeth. One tooth decays the remaining teeth, which often leads to lifelong suffering.
Generally speaking, people eat too much fat and sweet, their teeth are eaten by insects, and their teeth are so tough, how can they hide insects? It is not because of eating too much fat that the stomach fire rushes to the teeth and the moisture enters again, leading to worm teeth. Just one or two at first, then more and more, until the tooth fell out, and this tooth that fell and hurt the edge often suffered for life. It can be seen that damp-heat in the spleen and stomach is also a major cause of tooth decay.
In this case, the key point is to clear away heat and promote diuresis, eat less fat, sweet and greasy things that are easy to produce damp heat, and more importantly, strengthen the spleen and stomach. There are many ways: exercise more, think less, eat more things such as yam to strengthen the spleen and nourish the stomach, and so on.
2. Deficiency of kidney qi
If eating more fat and being sweet and greasy is the foundation, the fundamental reason lies in the deficiency of kidney qi. Chinese medicine believes that "the kidney dominates the bone to produce marrow, and the tooth is bone." I thought I had never had cavities since I was a child, and I'm not damp heat constitution. My tongue coating is clean all year round. These problems will only appear after delivery. Many people around us also have problems such as loose teeth and postpartum pain. I finally understand that pregnancy and breastfeeding consume too much kidney qi, which leads to the deterioration of enamel and dental caries.
Dentists say that tooth decay has genetic factors, parents have tooth decay, and most children have bad teeth. In fact, in the view of Chinese medicine, the inheritance is the constitution of kidney deficiency.
For this reason, I also looked for a lot of information and wanted to see what good methods Chinese medicine has. Instead, I found a mouthwash prescription for the treatment of tooth decay-Wuling Zhisheng Powder, which is also from Chen Shiduo's "Differentiation of Symptoms and Signs, Six Cases of Toothache" in the Qing Dynasty:
The original prescription is: Trogopterori (9g) Cynanchum atratum (9g) Asarum (1.5g) Rhizoma Drynariae (1.5g).
Grinding into fine powder. First, rinse your mouth with boiling water until your teeth are clean, and then use the previous medicine for five minutes. Boil the water until it is as thin as paste, rinse your mouth for a long time until you spit it out. If so, the pain will stop, the insects will die and you will never get sick again.
Trogopterori and Cynanchum atratum are the most invisible pesticides. Add asarum to disperse the fire, bone chips penetrate the bone, and lead Oletum Trogopterori and Cynanchum atratum straight into the bone, then there is nothing to hide, exterminate insects, and die to relieve pain.
According to the ancient habit of writing medical books, some curative effects will be exaggerated, but since Chen Shiduo can make a guarantee of "no more hair", it means that even if it can't be restored, it will definitely have great effects.
So I immediately prepared a big jar to try. Except for the strange taste, the effect is really good. A few superficial cavities turn into static cavities and stop developing. During the period, my parents couldn't relieve pain because of tooth decay, so they also used this mouthwash prescription, which was used to relieve pain on the same day. Besides, in Xian Yi, children of all ages can use this method as long as they can gargle. As a usual preventive prescription, it is really rare.
In addition, share a few small ways to tonify kidney:
1, tick the little finger.
Anyone who has studied massage probably knows that massage tonifies the kidney on the little finger, so you can consciously exercise the strength of the little finger at ordinary times. As the saying goes, there is something inside and outside, and there is a strong outside, and there will be a certain degree of improvement inside.
Step 2 stand on tiptoe. As the origin of the kidney meridian, the spring is at the sole of the foot, and the kidney meridian also passes through the heel. Regular practice of tiptoe helps to exercise kidney qi.
3. Rub your ears. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the kidney opens to the ear and the kidney qi opens to the ear. According to the pictographic theory of traditional Chinese medicine, the shape of the ear is similar to that of the kidney, so rubbing the ear often helps to stimulate kidney qi.
The above methods can be practiced several times a day, and the kidney meridian is the best in the season.
The most important thing about tooth decay is prevention. Although it is impossible for a friend who has suffered from tooth decay to return to the past, these methods can control the development speed of tooth decay and prolong the service life as much as possible, especially for children who change their teeth. It is best to use some methods of tonifying kidney, including acupoint massage, to help them put on a strong permanent tooth, which is really useful for a lifetime. After all, dental care is really expensive.