A Critical Analysis of Dentation and Dental Care in Ayurveda

Abstract

Even though dentistry was not a specialized branch of Ayurveda, it was included in ShalakyaTantra (one among the eight branches in Ayurveda). Dentistry concerned with the diagnosis,prevention, and treatment of diseases of the teeth, gums, and related structures of the mouth and including the repair or replacement of defective teeth was explained. Ancient scholars Charaka and Sushruta has not given complete information regarding dentation, but Vagbhata gives useful information about dentation and dental problems, including dentational disorder and its treatment. Acharya Kashyapa is the pioneer of this field. He gives more informative data about formation of teeth, milk tooth and permanent tooth. He also described the dental problems and dentational disorders in detail. Kashyapa enumerates the types of teeth (Rajadanta, Vasta, Damstra, and Hanavya.) along with number of milk and permanent tooth as 20 and 32 respectively. Few other authors also give some descriptive material about dentistry but not enough to gives elaborate descriptions. In this article a collection of data regarding dentistry from all Samhitas are done to give a detailed description as per ancient and modern parallels about dentistry. This article also highlights the review about formation of teeth, dental problems and dental care, with scientific analysis of the Ayurveda dental health and its incorporation into modern dental care.