8 Teething Home Remedies From Ayurveda

The Ayurveda Experience July 05, 2017

Teething is one of the developmental stages of your baby where there is the eruption of primary teeth. Let’s take a look at some teathing home remedies from Ayurveda.

Most of the time, teething gives a difficult time for both babies and parents.

For a child that is teething, it is an exceptionally painful process at times and they can get badly irritated. Fortunately, there are teething home remedies that can help ease pain and discomfort.

Early symptoms of teething include drooling, swollen red gums and a fair amount of pain. It is a common belief that teething causes illness, like fever or diarrhea.¹

Make sure there is no hidden cause for your child’s diarrhea and consult your medical provider immediately if your child shows signs of sickness.

A teething baby will be more restless than usual, and more prone to nasal congestion and ear infections.

Ayurveda And Dentistry

Though Ayurveda does not have a branch for dentistry, dental health is included in Shalakya Thantra, one of the 8 branches of Ayurveda.

Acharya Kashyapa is the pioneer of this field.

He has written informative data about the formation of teeth, baby teeth or milk teeth, and permanent teeth. He also described dental problems and denotational disorders in detail.

Kashyapa enumerates the types of teeth (rajadanta, vasta, damstra, and hanavya) along with the number of baby and permanent teeth as 20 and 32 respectively.

How Teeth Are Formed

How teeth are formed has been well explained by Acharya Vagbhata. teeth originate from ashti (bone) and majja (bone marrow).

Since they are of incomplete strength during the first four months of life, baby teeth fall off and new teeth erupt.

Teething Home Remedies From Ayurveda

Here are 8 teething home remedies to assist you and baby through the teething process.

1. Wash your hands well and gently massage the gums of your baby with your fingers. Applying virgin coconut oil on the gums to relieve the tingling sensation.
2. A piece of yashtimadhu (licorice root) or a teething ring can be given for chewing. Take care as small pieces might cause choking in babies.
3. Giver hard finger foods to bite on like a piece of carrot or cucumber.
4. Drooling will increase during the teething period. Wipe the saliva from the face to avoid skin rashes. Apply moisturizer if required.
5. There can be difficulty in falling asleep at night. Cuddle more, sing a song or narrate a story to soothe and relax your baby.
6. Dilute 2 drops of clove oil in 2 tablespoons of water and dip your forefinger in that mixture. Gently massage the baby’s gum. Do this 3-4 times a day to relieve pain and irritation.
7. Wipe gums and erupted teeth with gauze at bedtime.
8. Banana is friendly and soothing for babies. Biting on banana soothes the gums.

Please consult a qualified Ayurvedic practitioner before trying the above-mentioned teething remedies. 

References

1. Jones, Mark. “Teething in Children and the Alleviation of Symptoms.” The Journal of Family Health Care, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2002, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12415773.