Ayurvedic Oral Hygiene and Dental Care

2026 August 16

Healthy teeth influence our well-being and the health of our body.

Did you know that tooth decay and periodontal diseases are among the most common illnesses worldwide?

Ayurveda offers successful strategies for optimal care and maintenance of healthy teeth, gums, and oral cavity. We'll tell you why Ayurvedic oral hygiene is so much more than just cleaning teeth, and what Ayurveda experts recommend to prevent plaque, bad breath, tooth decay, and gum inflammation from becoming a problem.

Prevent with proper hygiene

In Ayurveda, too, the saying goes: "Prevention is better than cure" – and this applies equally to dental and oral health. With "Swasth Vrata," good personal hygiene, we can easily make a valuable contribution to our health every day. In addition to thorough tooth brushing, this primarily includes morning tongue cleaning and Gandusha, oil pulling.

To the products

Brushing your teeth – the ABC of dental health

Beautiful, well-maintained teeth stand for vitality and attractiveness. They give us a radiant smile, make us feel good, and are important for our digestion, as they help us break down food during chewing.

Thorough tooth brushing is one of the first steps in the Ayurvedic morning routine and a prerequisite for keeping our teeth healthy.

Ayurveda recommends brushing teeth in the morning and evening, but interestingly not necessarily after every meal, to prevent the erosion of natural tooth enamel and "good" bacteria. However, Ayurveda recommends rinsing the mouth with clear water after eating and also advises the subsequent use of some spices such as fennel, sesame, or cardamom to refresh the mouth and maintain fresh breath.

Rinsing with water is especially recommended if you have consumed acidic drinks and foods such as fruit or fruit juice. Afterwards, it's best to wait 15-30 minutes before brushing your teeth. Ayurveda knows a variety of valuable herbs for the care of teeth and gums. The most important of them can be found in our Ayurdent Toothpaste* . Depending on your preference, you can choose between the classic and the mild variant. The only difference between Mild and Classic is that Classic has the full intensity of all herbs and oils, and Mild is lighter in terms of taste and strength.

* With 21 herbs. Helps fight bacteria & plaque. Soothes gums. Beneficial fresh feeling.

Unlike most conventional toothpastes, the vegan and BDIH/COSMOS NATURAL-certified Ayurdent Toothpaste has a slightly brownish color – an indication of its richness in herbs and the acacia catechu extract, which is particularly recommended in Ayurveda for dental health. 21 highly concentrated herbs and essential oils are contained in the toothpastes, including neem, clove oil, and peppermint oil, which act directly on the oral mucosa and leave a wonderful fresh feeling. No matter which of the two toothpastes you choose:

Ayurdent helps fight bacteria & plaque,
soothes the gums,
provides a beneficial fresh feeling and
ensures long-lasting fresh breath.

And all this without harmful chemicals such as chemical foaming agents or fluorides!

"Deposits that form at the root of the tongue impair the sense of taste and lead to bad breath. The tongue should therefore be cleaned regularly."

Charaka Samhita, Sutrasthan 5, 75

Morning tongue cleaning – anything but a luxury

Whether speaking, tasting, or digesting: Our sensitive tongue is a valuable tool. Reason enough to pay more attention to it.

Because: During the night, toxins and waste products or Ama ( see notes ) accumulate on our tongue. For some people, this even leads to an unpleasant, noticeable, and visible coating. These coatings sometimes occur due to digestive problems.

As confirmed by the German Federal Dental Association, bacterial deposits and food residues on the tongue can not only impair our fine taste buds but also lead to bad breath. In fact, 90% of the causes of bad breath lie in the mouth. In well over half of all cases, the tongue is responsible for bad breath – more precisely, metabolic products of bacteria that like to settle on the rough tongue surface. According to studies, regular tongue cleaning can demonstrably reduce the coating and give us a noticeably clean tongue.

In Ayurveda, morning tongue cleaning with a tongue cleaner (Jivha nirlekhan) has a tradition going back thousands of years. A method that is as simple as it is effective, as further studies confirm: A study in Toronto showed that cleaning the tongue reduces foul gases and bad breath by about 75%, while regular tooth cleaning only achieves about 25%. The mechanical removal of microorganisms therefore plays a key role in fighting bad breath. Furthermore, similar to brushing teeth, it can help reduce the individual risk of tooth decay and strengthen dental health, according to the Kassenärztliche Vereinigung Nordrhein.

The tongue cleaner should ideally be made of stainless steel or silver, or silver-plated. The latter has the advantage of also having an antibacterial effect. Plastic is less suitable, as it could release microplastics with regular use, which can further penetrate the body and disturb the tongue flora.

Under no circumstances should you brush your tongue with a toothbrush, as this can damage the sensitive taste buds on the tongue.

Tongue cleaning – quick & easy

Hold the tongue cleaner by the ends with both hands and keep it horizontal.
Place the arch flat on the back of the tongue and gently pull the tongue cleaner from back to front over the tongue several times.
Rinse the mouth with some water and rinse the tongue cleaner under running water.

You can find out more about tongue cleaning and its importance for our health in our oral hygiene video .

"Rinsing the mouth with oil prevents dryness of the throat and lips, protects the teeth, and strengthens the gums."

Charaka Samhita, Sutrasthan 5, 78-80

Gandusha – intensive cleaning with oil pulling

Gandusha, now known as "oil pulling," is also an integral part of the Ayurvedic morning routine . With this simple and inexpensive traditional oil cure, you clean your mouth and teeth even more intensively. Applied regularly and correctly, oil pulling can demonstrably improve oral hygiene.

All you need is some time and a high-quality oil. Vaidya Sharma recommends using pure, cold-pressed organic sesame oil or coconut oil for oil pulling. The sesame oil should be "ripened," meaning it should be heated once to approximately 108 °C and, after cooling, poured into a clean bottle.

As you move the oil intensely in your mouth and it mixes with saliva, it can absorb waste products and thus free your mouth from accumulated Ama (see notes). The oil also reaches hidden areas such as the spaces between teeth and simultaneously cares for the mucous membrane.

Oil pulling – here's how it's done!

Take 1-2 tablespoons of warm oil into your mouth.
Move the oil thoroughly in your mouth, pull it through your teeth, and gargle with it.
After approx. 3 minutes, dispose of the oil, which has become white and foamy, in a paper towel or a container (do not put it down the drain!).
If you like, repeat the process. In total, oil pulling can take 5-7 minutes.
Rinse your mouth with water and spit this water into a container as well.

Modern studies confirm the positive effects of traditional oil pulling. Oil pulling can reduce the number of germs in the mouth as well as plaque, decrease susceptibility to tooth decay, and contribute to the reduction of bad breath. Modern research thus confirms how valuable oil pulling, practiced in Ayurveda for millennia, can be as a supplement to daily tooth brushing.

Ayurdent Gum Care Oil – Daily Balm for the Gums

To complete your oral hygiene, it is recommended to care for your gums with a special care oil. To do this, spray some gum care oil into your mouth twice a day after brushing your teeth or cleaning your mouth. Then gently massage the oil into your gums with a clean finger for 1-2 minutes.

Our BDIH/COSMOS NATURAL-certified gum care oil is made according to traditional recipes. Embedded in ripened organic sesame oil, it contains 21 selected herbs, valuable plant-based ingredients, and the purest essential oils, which unfold their pure, natural taste and balancing effect during massage.

Ayurdent Gum Care Oil has a good taste and cares for, soothes, and strengthens the gums. It actively works against bacterial biofilms and plaque, gum inflammation, and bad breath.

Nutrition – Strengthening teeth and gums

In Ayurveda, teeth are attributed to Asthi Dhatu, which also forms the anatomical framework of our body. Asthi means bone. This means that our teeth automatically benefit when we do something good for our bones.

An important means of strengthening our bones is well-known to be calcium, which is primarily found in dairy products, but also in green vegetables such as broccoli, spinach, kale, arugula, and fennel, as well as in nuts and sesame seeds.

According to Vaidya Saurabh Sharma, the two food supplements Calcio Care with natural calcium and Moringa are an ideal addition.

A good supply of magnesium also strengthens our bones. Nuts, legumes, and whole-grain products should therefore be an important part of our diet.

We should also pay attention to daily, regular exercise (at least 30 minutes of walking in daylight) to stimulate bone metabolism and ensure an adequate supply of vitamin D.

Caution is instead advised with calcium robbers such as salt, caffeine, cola, and lemonades.

No question: sugar harms our teeth! Anyone who regularly snacks on sweets between meals or even at night puts enormous strain on their teeth. The combination of acid and sugar, as found in soft drinks, but also fruit juices and spritzers, is particularly treacherous for tooth enamel. If you (still) cannot do without it, you should drink some water afterwards.

Feel fresh:

According to Ayurvedic scriptures, a simple and natural remedy for fresh breath is chewing spices after eating. Anise, fennel, and sesame seeds, as well as cardamom and cloves, are well suited; they not only taste good but also stimulate digestion.

By the way: Far too little attention is paid to proper chewing. When we chew, our food is not only broken down and prepared for digestion in the stomach; digestive juices are also activated. Therefore, thorough chewing is very important. As is the right time for eating. Those who align their meals with the Ayurvedic daily routine can easily reduce the formation of toxins.