By Nelson Manneh
From an ancient tool to a modern way of improving oral health, chewing sticks have proven to be an effective tool for oral health. The chewing stick removes the bacterial plaque through mechanical and chemical actions.
Dental hygiene involves cleaning the teeth and maintaining the health of the teeth and gums. Oral hygiene is crucial to prevent dental issues. It results in bacterial build up on the teeth, causing damage over time.
“Bad teeth” usually refer to poor oral health conditions, which results in compromised appearance and functionality. The effects are not only limited to your oral health but your overall well-being.
The common oral health problems that result in poor oral health include Toothache, Teeth sensitivity, Stained teeth, Cracked teeth, Impacted teeth, chipped teeth, teeth spaces, oral cavities, and gum disease among others.
Several research studies have established a connection between poor oral health and the onset of cardiovascular problems. Besides cardiovascular diseases, poor oral health can also be related to inflammation, infection causation, and stroke. Bad teeth also affect the overall respiratory health, resulting in respiratory health troubles such as pneumonia. Diabetics can also have a tough time controlling their blood sugar levels if their oral health is not good.
Other than this, oral health issues in pregnancy are one of the reasons behind premature birth and low birth weight in infants, which are common pregnancy complications.
How Modern Toothbrushes Gradually Replaced Chewing Stick
Research worldwide has indicated that oral health status has a major impact on general quality of life and well-being. With the increasing rate of oral diseases, the global necessity of effective and economical products for prevention and treatment has intensified.
Research has also shown that the use of contemporary toothbrushes and interdental cleaners has overlooked the most effective primitive oral hygiene devices, known as chewing sticks.
Chewing sticks of plants were prehistorically used by the early Arabs, Babylonian, Greek, and Roman societies for cleaning teeth. Substance examinations have exposed a new epoch of chewing sticks recompense, which established that these sticks contain natural ingredients, which are valuable for oral health.
Researchers have reviewed that it contains ascorbic acid, trimethylamine, chloride, fluoride, silica, resins, and Salvadoran, which have proven potency to heal inflamed and bleeding gums, produce stimulatory effect on gingival, remove tartar, and other stains from the teeth, re-mineralize dental hard tissue, whitens teeth, provide enamel barrier, and increase salivary flow, respectively.
It further indicated that chewing sticks also contain volatile oils, tannic acid, sculpture, and sterols, which attribute to antiseptic, astringent, and bactericidal properties that help reduce plaque formation, provide anti-carious effects, eliminate bad odor, improve the sense of taste, and cure many systemic diseases.
All these laboratory findings have discovered a new paradigm in the history of preventive dentistry and researchers aimed to bring back the focus on chewing sticks due to their diverse oral health benefits and orthodox adaptation of feasible structure.
The discovery and apprehension for the alternate oral practices, in particular reference to these chewing sticks, was recommended by the World Health Organization and is still being endorsed to support these as an effective tool for oral hygiene.
The use of chewing sticks also fulfills the fundamental requisite of primary health care and maybe a proper substitute for the modern manual toothbrush. With the increasing rate of oral diseases, the global necessity of effective and economical products for its prevention and treatment has intensified.
Research further shows that chewing sticks have parallel and at times greater mechanical and chemical cleansing of oral tissues as compared to a toothbrush.
WHO has encouraged the use of chewing sticks as an alternative source of oral hygiene in developing countries where many cannot afford commercial dental products.
Chewing sticks help in reducing the incidence of neoplasms, especially in the oral cavity. The resin forms a coat over the enamel and thus protects the tooth from decay.
Experts’ take on the use of chewing sticks
With the increasing rate of oral diseases, the global necessity of effective and economical products for its prevention and treatment has intensified.
Experts argued that Chewing sticks have revealed parallel and at times greater mechanical and chemical cleansing of oral tissues as compared to a toothbrush.
Mr MomodouSuso, a dentist who established a private dental lab in Tallinding, said chewing sticks were anciently used for the cleaning of teeth and studies have revealed that they contained antiseptic and antibacterial properties to keep the mouth clean and free from germs.
“Throughout my studies as a dental specialist, I have never come across any theory that indicates that the use of chewing sticks has any sight effect,” he said.
Mr Suso said the act of chewing the stick stimulates the production of saliva which helps neutralise the acid in the mouth and reduces gum disease. He added brushing without toothpaste, especially one that has fluoride helps to remove plaque, resist decay, and also helps strengthen the enamel that has been attached by acids.
“There are some toothpaste that can cause toothache because some toothpaste has a lot of sugar content and if it is not properly used it can cause toothache. As a dentist, I always advise my clients to use toothpaste that is not surgery example fluoride toothpaste” he said.
He said toothpastes are extracted from plants and extra chemicals are added to it to give it a good odor.
“Many people use toothpaste because of the good odor it gives to your mouth after use but if we are to compare it with chewing stick, I will advise the use of chewing stick over toothpaste.”
The dental specialist said some of his clients who go to his lab to wash their mouth usually complain that despite the frequent use of toothpaste, they still have yellowish stains on their teeth but those who use chewing sticks frequently don’t complain much because they don’t have that.
“As a dentist, if I am to compare the use of chewing sticks with the use of toothpaste, I will not discredit the use of toothpaste but I advise that people frequently use chewing sticks and use toothpaste at least twice a day,” he said.
Chewing sticks are used for tooth cleaning by many populations. Although they contain antimicrobial substances that could conceivably benefit oral hygiene, there have been few attempts to evaluate their properties in vivo.
This pilot, cross-sectional study recorded the oral hygiene and gingival health of adult Ghanaians who used chewing sticks, toothbrushes, or a combination of both for tooth cleaning. Plaque and gingivitis scores were higher in the chewing stick users, although these were primarily due to differences in men.
Men had poorer oral hygiene and gingival health than women, irrespective of the oral hygiene regimen. The same differences were apparent for city and rural dwellers, with no overall differences observed between these two groups.
The longer time that is necessary for cleaning with chewing sticks may explain the apparent reduced cleaning efficiency in men.
Local Findings
Mr Lamin Dampha, a herbalist said his father was a traditional healer and when he died, he inherited the practice and continues to use different parts of different plants for healing.
“I have spent more than seventeen years in this practice and some of the herbs I use for healing can be used as chewing sticks, so I know something when it comes to the use of chewing sticks for oral hygiene,” he said.
Mr Dampha said the use of toothpaste has overshadowed the use of chewing sticks in urban areas because people believe that it is the easiest and the most advisory way of maintaining proper dental health care.
“I will not dispute that fact but I can tell you that chewing sticks stand out to me because their function does not only stop at cleaning the tooth or gum but some of the branches and roots used serve as herbs and can heal certain illnesses,” he said.
Herbalist Dampha said a person who uses a chewing stick regularly can have a lasting tooth and may not be exposed to oral health problems.
“Good eating habits including avoiding sugary foods and regularly cleaning our teeth and gum using chewing sticks can help in reducing the incidences of oral health problems,” he said.
Mrs Maimuna Darboe, a vendor who sells chewing sticks at the Serrekunda market, said the coming of toothpaste has negatively impacted their business.
“In this modern day and age, many people think that whosoever uses chewing sticks is poor and cannot afford to buy toothpaste, but to me it is because people don’t know the importance of chewing sticks,” she said.
Mrs Darboe said most of the chewing sticks she sells are herbs that don’t only make your teeth and gum clean, but cure certain gum diseases.
“Since when I know myself I have never used toothpaste or any other material to clean my tooth, all I use is chewing sticks and I have never suffered any form of toothache.”
“I am not saying those who are having oral health problems used toothpaste that is why they are affected, no, all that I am trying to put across is that chewing sticks are the most effective form of cleaning out teeth without any sight effect,” she noted.
According to Darboe, she has been selling chewing sticks for more than ten years and can testify that it is the best material when it comes to maintaining oral hygiene.
“During Ramadan, many people who observe it come to us to buy dry chewing sticks because they believe that when someone fasts the best material one can use to clean his or her tooth is a dry chewing stick,” she said.
Imam Lamin Cham, a native of Bundung, said it is advisable for someone fasting to use a dry chewing stick to clean his or her tooth and maintain good oral hygiene.
“The use of a chewing stick is not only the best way to maintain good oral hygiene, but it is also our traditional way of cleaning our teeth as Africans. In the Gambia, the use of toothpaste has almost killed our traditional way of cleaning our mouths. Chewing sticks are cheaper when compared to toothpaste,” he said.
