HEAL & REVERSE
Gingivitis & Recession
HEAL & REVERSE
Gingivitis & Recession
Gingivitis & Recession
Gingivitis isn't just a "mouth problem"... It is a whole-body issue!
In Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), gums reflect internal heat, dryness, and inflammation. They are sensitive to dryness and heat. Bleeding, redness, or inflammation indicate your body needs support.
Gingivitis Comes From:
• Too much internal heat (pitta or stomach fire rising)
• Dry mouth (lack of yin, fluids, saliva)
• Weak spleen or digestion (TCM) - leads to poor nutrition absorption and immune depletion
• Vata imbalance (dryness, irregularity, poor tissue nourishment)
Core Healing Principles
YOUR GUMS CAN REGENERATE - With time, intention, and the right herbal and dietary support, gingivitis can be reversed naturally. When imbalances are remedied, the gums will naturally return to a state of health and harmony. It is their natural state and they are always trying to return to it. So with your awareness and support it is absolutely possible!
Keep The Mouth Moist
- Keep the mouth moist to maintain saliva, which carries minerals and antimicrobial peptides. Dry mouth can lead to inflammation, imbalance, and stagnation.
- Use nasal oil, humidifier at night, oil pulling in the morning, and don't mouth breathe (mouth tape + clear sinuses before bed)
- Hydrate with warm mineral-rich fluids and teas - like anantamul, dendrobium, slippery elm, mullein, or our Bone Renewal or Supreme Hydration
Heal the Gut to Heal the Gums
Dryness and heat in the mouth points to dryness and heat in the stomach
- In both systems, gum inflammation is rooted in digestive fire imbalance.
- Eliminate stale, dry, and processed foods as well as cold raw foods, and snacking. Eat warm, spiced meals with bitter greens and cooling herbs.
- Soothing and hydrating fruits like melon and slippery veggies like okra can help! Naturally sweet foods like sweet potato and dates also replenish the system and remove heat.
- Natural mineral sources like pearl, oyster shell, and coral are also very cooling and balance out excess heat (similar to diaper rash cream and sunscreen these herbs are found in our Bone Renewal Blend
Clear Heat From Gums
Cooling, bitter, and anti-inflammatory herbs are beneficial internally and topically.
AYURVEDA: manjistha, guduchi, neem, turmeric, amalaki, anantamul
TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE: honeysuckle, dandelion leaf, burdock, skullcap, chrysanthemum, licorice
Both our gum oil pulling oil and our gum massage oil are infused with cooling, soothing, and regenerative herbs that are amazing for topical use!
Move the Lymph and Blood
- Try gentle gua sha on the jawline, warm compresses, or gentle tapping around the mouth or clicking the teeth... chewing on harder things also helps activate the meridians (think dogs chewing bones!)
- Internally, support with manjistha, neem, anantamul, burdock, or red root. These herbs are potent at removing excessive heat from the gums and blood.
Breath and Emotions
- In TCM, the gums are related to the stomach and large intestine meridians, and emotionally, pent-up frustration, overthinking, and urgency, can fuel fire in the mouth.
- Anger, frustration, and stress are HOT emotions, which cause inflammation and also burn away fluids.
- Too much screen time also increases heat and activates the liver, so give yourself some time to decompress and to just be... rest needs to be mental as well as physical.
Using Herbs Topicaly
Use sesame or coconut oil for oil pulling to reduce bacteria and coat the gums. You can add our HealThy Gums Oil to your coconut oil for extra targeted support!
Do rinses with cooling, regenerative, soothing herbs like neem, anantamul, amla, triphala, honeysuckle, chrysanthemum, etc. (bitter and astringent herbs generally remove heat and tighten gums while naturally sweet herbs soothe tissues and promote wound healing)
Primal Puddy and Original Puddy offer support in soothing the tissues and calming inflammation! They nourish and support the teeth which uphold the gums.
