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Oral care using natural ingredients

You can make a great toothpowder yourself at home, using fresh kitchen ingredients. Please use organic ingredients wherever possible.
The only skill required in making these recipes is the knowledge of using a mixer / blender and some patience.

Measurements like teaspoons / cups have been used in this recipe as digital scales are not easily available to measure out ingredient weights. This recipe makes up about 100 - 200 gm of toothpowder. This small batch size helps retain the freshness and flavour of ingredients.

While it is no requirement, storing this toothpowder in a cool, dry environment helps extend its flavour and freshness.

Vegan Toothpowder Recipe Ingredients: 1. Soapberry powder - 3 teaspoons (cleansing, anti-bacterial, slight foaming) 2. Neem leaf powder - 3 teaspoons (Anti-bacterial) 3. Powdered Sea Salt - 6 teaspoons (Whitening, antiseptic) 4. Turmeric powder - 2.5 teaspoons (Anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, wound-healing properties) 5. Clove powder - 4.5 teaspoons (refreshing, anti-bacterial, wound healing properties) 6. Fennel seed powder - 5.5 teaspoons (refreshing, cleansing, anti-bacterial) 7. Cinnamon bark powder - 3 teaspoons (refreshing, anti-bacterial) 8. Cardamom powder - 1.5 teaspoons (refreshing, anti-bacterial) 9. Dried Indian Gooseberry (Amla) powder - 3 teaspoons (anti-bacterial, strengthening, astringent)

Instructions on creating the toothpowder and ingredient handling Sieve all the powders together and mix well to create your own natural, vegan toothpowder.

You could also buy the raw materials yourself and grind them at home to ensure better quality and freshness. If you are grinding the materials yourself, pound each ingredient separately in a mortar and pestle before grinding them one at a time in a mixergrinder. Remember to grind them in short bursts so that they do not heat up, and allow the powders to cool before resuming grinding.

Each of these ingredients have a different particle size and some are particularly difficult to grind, like turmeric. So once all the ingredients have been ground well, mix all the powders together and sieve them using a fine sieve so that the final product has the same particle size throughout.

The final toothpowder should be extremely soft and fine , like wheat flour, with no coarse particles in it .

In the case of turmeric, it is advisable to buy dried turmeric sticks and grind them yourself. All the turmeric powder commercially available is made by boiling the turmeric sticks in water, and then drying and powdering them to get fine, even sized particles.

This reduces the medicinal properties of the turmeric greatly which is critical in this toothpowder.

Use dried turmeric sticks in making your toothpowder Turmeric has strong wound healing properties If you have a toothache, make a paste with turmeric, salt and mustard oil and gently massage the affected area with this paste

Using your natural toothpowder and a complete oral care regime

Using and storing the toothpowder Bottle the toothpowder in a clean, dry glass jar. If stored correctly, the flavour can last for more than a year. Use a clean dry spoon to dispense the toothpowder when using it every day.

Pre- toothpowder swish Put a tablespoon of organic, preferably cold pressed sesame oil into your mouth (before using the toothpowder).Swish the oil vigorously in your mouth all over the oral cavity concentrating on both sides of the mouth. Do this for 2 - 3 minutes before spitting out the oil completely.

Brushing Instructions Use your index finger to use the toothpowder instead of a toothbrush. There are 3 important reasons for this: Research suggests that brushing your teeth hard using a toothbrush can cause enamel wear and tear, leading to a higher rate of cavities. The finger is more mobile and sensitive and can navigate the whole mouth, compared to a toothbrush. It is also more ideally suited to handle a toothpowder . The toothpowder has natural dye pigments coming from each individual ingredient. The overall colour of the toothpowder is a dark brown. This colour stains the toothbrush (but not your teeth).

Do not swallow this oil.

You will notice that the oil has changed colour to a yellowish white and looks soapy after you spit it out.

Swishing the mouth with sesame oil has been written about in the Dinacharya section of Ayurvedic texts which lays down the daily routine to be practiced to live a healthy life.

The Dinacharya says that this practice strengthens your teeth, improves the sense of taste, lubricates the palate, and is also good for the eyes.

Research done on this sesame oil swishing shows a remarkable Ingredient warning: Soapberry powder is not advised for consumption in large quantities, as it acts as an emetic. It is not prescribed as an edible ingredient in Ayurveda or Indian folklore, but is prescribed as an edible ingredient for certain conditions in traditional Chinese medicine. The study speculates on the exact method of reduction: it could be that the tongue traps toxins and bacteria after it is expelled from the body, and the oil swishing draws out these trapped toxins from the tongue Therefore, this recipe contains 9% of soapberry in the total product to keep the quantity of soapberry per use of the toothpowder at minimal levels. Oil swishing is also advocated in the Ayurveda texts as a method for keeping the vocal chords strong and training the voice. It is advised for Remember to spit out the toothpowder and rinse your mouth thoroughly with water after each use. This is also applicable to all commercial toothpastes. orators and singers as well. and out of the body. reduction in the total count of bacterial in the mouth reducing your susceptibility to dental cavities.

Disclaimer: This recipe has been formulated as a result of our ongoing research at Krya. We have used classical Ayurvedic texts, books documenting the use of natural ingredients in folklore and tribal medicine, and scientific papers published on some of the individual ingredients we have used, in creating this formulation.

This formulation has been tested by Srinivas and myself for more than a year now. I previously suffered from sensitive teeth and bleeding gums which are now cured. Neither of us have had any adverse reactions to this toothpowder. Both of us believe this is a good formulation.

We have not however tested this product on a large independent panel of consumers. If you have any concerns about this, please do not try out this formulation.

About the Authors:

This eBook has been written by Preethi Sukumaran and Srinivas Krishnaswamy of Krya Consumer Products LLP (the copyright holder). This guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial - Non Derivs 3.0 Unported License. Simply put , you can share this eBook with anyone you like, without charging them for it.

Krya Consumer Products creates environmentally sustainable, completely natural and vegan alternatives for nice folks like you to use around your home.

We are proud to have launched our first product, the Krya detergent which is made by skilfully powdering sun-ripened, hand-picked, de-seeded, certified organic soapberries.

Since the launch of the Krya detergent, it has been attracting rave reviews from happy consumers. The Krya detergent has been designed to be used in front and top-loading washing machines and in hand wash as well.

To find out more about us and what we do, please visit these sites:

www.krya.in www.facebook.com/kryagoodies

Krya Consumer Products LLP Company 57, Solaiappa Street, Mylapore, Chennai - 4 Tel: +9144 4204 9292 goodies@krya.in 57,www.krya.in Solaiappa Street, Mylapore, Chennai - 4. Phone No:044-4204 9292 Email: goodies@krya.in