《孫真人備急千金要方》Vol. 19

Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold Pieces for Emergencies by Sun Simiao, juan 19

Prescriptions for Disorders of the Seven Orifices

Sixth: Disorders of the Teeth (Discussion, Prescriptions, and Moxibustion Methods)

The discussion says: When the gums recede and the roots of the teeth are exposed, this is usually due to dental erosion (a condition that damages the gums), though it may also be related to a lunar eclipse. Burn mugwort stalks to ash and apply it between the gums at night, covering the affected area. After applying it, avoid fatty foods; the condition usually clears up in two or three nights. Eating fatty foods or dried jujubes may cause it to return. Those with dental disorders should therefore avoid fatty foods, dried jujubes, and cassia bark heartwood.

Each morning, place a pinch of salt in the mouth. Rinse and rub the teeth with warm water, then tap the upper and lower teeth together one hundred times. Practice this without interruption, and within five days at most the teeth will become firm and tight.

People whose gums have receded so much that they cannot eat fruits or vegetables are suffering because their tooth roots are exposed. Rubbing the teeth with salt water and tapping them together as described will always cure the condition, with excellent results.

People commonly suffer from dental disorders because they have eaten or drunk on the night of a lunar eclipse. Those who know this should take care. Until the eclipse has ended, eating and drinking are especially taboo; this applies to children as well.

Prescription for Treating Cavities and Pain Caused by Toothworms

Take six zhu each of bai fuzi, anemarrhena, and asarum, and twelve zhu each of chuanxiong and galangal.

Grind the five ingredients into a fine powder. Wrap a little in cotton and place it on the tooth. Spit out any liquid that gathers in the mouth. Apply it twice a day. It can also treat bad breath.

Another Prescription

Cut the hard edge of a white horse’s hoof into grains of rice in size, wrap the pieces in cotton, and pack them into the cavity of the painful tooth. Use it no more than three times; the results are excellent.

Prescription for Toothworms That Have Persisted for Years

Sparrow-wheat grass, also called Du Lao grass, resembles ox-hair grass. Take forty bitter gourd leaves, wash them, and leave them outdoors overnight. At dawn, take the sparrow-wheat grass and cut it into pieces about two inches long, one inch wide, and half an inch thick. Wrap each piece in a gourd leaf and tie it closed, making fifty or sixty packets. Soak them in strong vinegar aged for three years. At noon, take out two packets and heat them over a fire until very hot. Place them in the mouth and press them against the outside of the affected tooth, replacing them when they cool.

Fill a copper vessel with water. Untie the packets and wash them in the water; it is said that worms will come out. They are about three fen long: old ones are yellowish red, while young ones are white. When there are many, thirty or forty may be extracted; even when there are few, there may be ten or twenty.

Prescription for Treating Toothworms

(The text gives only the heading here and does not include the prescription.)

Use three he (a traditional measure) of henbane seeds. If they are unavailable, scallion seeds or Chinese chive seeds may be used instead. Heat seven green copper coins until red-hot and place them in a small-mouthed jar whose opening can be sealed with the mouth. Add the coins to the jar, then place a pinch of henbane seeds on the hot coins; the seeds will crackle and pop. Immediately pour in about half a he of water, allowing the steam to rise from the mouth of the jar. Seal the opening with the mouth so the steam does not escape, and let it bathe the teeth. When the steam cools, repeat the procedure. Using up three he of the seeds counts as one course of treatment. This method is said to treat not only worm-eaten teeth but also wind-related toothache, cavities, and various other dental ailments. Spit out excess saliva.

Another prescription: Chop one sheng of white poplar leaves, add three sheng of water, and boil until one sheng remains. Hold the liquid in the mouth.

Another prescription: Boil one sheng of the white bark of the wolfberry root in one sheng of strong vinegar until half a sheng remains. Hold it in the mouth; the worms are said to come out at once.

Another prescription: Take a small amount of peach kernel and pierce it with a hairpin. Hold it over a lamp until it smokes, then blow it out after a short while. Put it in the mouth and bite down on it against the worm-eaten tooth. The text says that five or six applications at most should be enough. Another version uses walnut kernel.

Prescription for treating gan worms that eat away at the tooth roots

Place an earthworm on a stone and sprinkle it with a pinch of salt. After a short while, it will liquefy. Spread flour over the liquid to absorb it; when the mixture thickens, lift it off and apply it to the affected area. Then peel a Chinese honeylocust pod and rub it on the spot. The text says the worms will come out.

Another prescription: Grind the ashes left after burning a lamp wick made of pure hemp into a fine powder, and mix them with well water drawn at dawn before applying.

Another prescription: Use equal amounts of black ram fat and henbane seeds. First heat the socket of an iron hoe or axe—the hole into which the handle fits—until red-hot, then put the ingredients into it. Once they begin to smoke, cover the head with a cloth and let the smoke enter the mouth to bathe the teeth.

Prescription for swollen, painful gums and pain from worm-eaten teeth

Take one liang each of baical skullcap, licorice, cinnamon bark, Chinese angelica, asarum, and cnidium. Cut the six ingredients into pieces, add seven sheng of vinegar and rice-washing water, and boil until three sheng remain. Strain out the herbs and hold the liquid in the mouth. Use it three times during the day and twice at night.

Prescription for a tooth with a hole, inability to eat wheat foods, and a swollen face

Take seven leaves of Chinese star anise and seven roots of pig pepper, each four cun long. Cut both ingredients into pieces, add three sheng of rice-washing water, and boil until one sheng remains. Hold a mouthful in the mouth; spit it out when it becomes tiring. Do this two or three times a day.

Prescription for swollen tooth roots

Take a handful of pine needles, chopped, and one he of salt. Add three sheng of wine and boil until one sheng remains. Hold the liquid in the mouth.

A remedy for loose teeth that are about to fall out:

Wrap prepared rehmannia root in cotton cloth, place it over the teeth, and bite down. Then chew it to extract the juice. Let the juice soak into the tooth roots. Do this four or five times a day, swallowing the juice as well. Continue for ten days; the results are very good.

A remedy for loose, painful tooth roots:

Take three liang each of prepared rehmannia root and angelica pubescens. Chop the two herbs, soak them overnight in one sheng of water, then hold the liquid in the mouth.

A remedy for saliva and blood that flow continually from between the gums:

Take two liang of fresh bamboo shavings (the inner fibers of bamboo), boil them in vinegar, and hold the liquid in the mouth.

Another remedy:

Take two liang of asarum and one liang of licorice root. Chop the herbs, simmer them in two sheng of vinegar until reduced to one sheng, and hold the liquid in the mouth as needed throughout the day and night.

Another remedy:

Take one liang of alum, heat it, then boil it in three sheng of water until reduced to one sheng. First wipe away the blood, then hold the liquid in the mouth. The book also says that this remedy need not be used for tooth roots that have already decayed or for teeth that have fallen out.

A remedy for bleeding between the teeth:

Boil bitter bamboo leaves down to a concentrated liquid, add a little salt, and hold it in the mouth once it has cooled to a comfortable temperature. Spit it out when it gets cold.

Another remedy:

Take half a sheng of warm urine from a young boy and hold three he (a small measure) in the mouth; this will stop the bleeding.

A remedy for persistent bleeding from the teeth:

Scrape off two liang of fresh bamboo bark and soak it in bitter wine (vinegar). Have the patient remove their upper garment and sit down. Someone else should hold the liquid in their mouth, then spray it onto the patient’s back three times. Next, boil bamboo shavings down to a concentrated liquid without salt. When it has cooled to a comfortable temperature, use it to rinse the mouth, repeating this throughout the day.

A remedy for heavy tooth bleeding after drinking too much wine:

Take two liang of Chinese angelica, six zhu of alum, and one liang each of cassia bark, asarum, and licorice root. Chop the five ingredients, simmer them in five sheng of jiangshui (an ancient sour drink) until reduced to three sheng, and hold the liquid in the mouth. Do this five or six times during the day and three times at night.

Another remedy: Heat an iron nail until red-hot and place it over the bleeding cavity; this is said to stop the bleeding.

A remedy for severe pain in the mouth and teeth caused by wind affecting the head and face:

Take two he of Sichuan pepper, ten pieces of poison ivy, two liang each of Chinese bird cherry root and angelica pubescens, and one liang each of asarum, Ligusticum chuanxiong, and fangfeng. Chop the seven ingredients, simmer them in two and a half sheng of wine, bringing it to a boil five times, then strain out the herbs. Hold the liquid in the mouth; spit it out when it cools, then take a fresh mouthful. Do not swallow it. Zhang Wen-zhong’s version adds two liang of atractylodes.

Another remedy: Burn chicken dung white to ash, wrap it in cotton cloth, place it on the aching tooth, and bite down.

Another remedy: Boil goji berry juice and hold it in the mouth.

Another remedy: Boil chicken dung white in vinegar, soak it, then hold a small amount in the mouth.

Another remedy: Take a piece of fresh rehmannia root and a clove of garlic. Pound them together, wrap them in cotton cloth, and bite down with the bundle against the painful spot. Do not swallow the juice; spit it out as it seeps out. Do this every day until the pain subsides.

Another remedy: Hold donkey urine in the mouth for a while, and the pain will stop.

Method for treating pain from wind in the teeth

Apply three moxa cones at the point where the channels meet, in front of the prominent bone above the outer ankle. Then measure with a string the distance from the tip of the middle finger to the crease at the base of the palm, and divide it into four equal parts. Take the point one part’s length up the arm from the palm crease, and apply two moxa cones at the center of the arm. Apply moxa on the side corresponding to the side of the body where the pain is felt.

Decoction for treating toothache, to hold and rinse in the mouth

Three liang each of pubescent angelica root and Chinese angelica root; two liang each of baical skullcap root, asarum, Sichuan lovage root, and long pepper; and one liang of clove.

Cut the seven ingredients into small pieces. Add five sheng of water and boil until two and a half sheng remain, then strain out the herbs. Hold some in the mouth briefly; when it feels stuffy, spit it out and take fresh liquid to rinse. The Records of Proven Remedies from Ancient and Modern Times says to add two liang of licorice to this formula.

Another remedy: Depending on which side the pain is on, hold white horse urine in the mouth. After holding three to five mouthfuls, the pain will stop.

Decoction for treating toothache, to rinse the mouth

Take two hundred rotten thorn spines. Add two sheng of water and boil until one sheng remains. Rinse with a small amount each time, four or five times a day, until the pain subsides.

Another remedy:

Take equal parts Sichuan lovage root, asarum, Siler root, alum, aconite, false hellebore, and Chinese lacquer tree. Grind them into a fine powder and wrap it in cotton cloth to form a pellet the size of a marble. Soak it in wine, then hold it against the affected area without swallowing. Use it three times a day; the effect is better if the skin is pricked.

Another remedy: Mix earthworm castings with water into a thick paste and roll it into a ball. Heat it over a fire until red hot, then grind it into a fine powder. Mix it with pork fat made in the twelfth lunar month and apply it to the gums two or three times a day. It is said to keep the pain from returning.

Another remedy: Take earthworms that have died naturally and dried in the sun. Pound them into powder and apply it to the painful spot; the pain will stop.

Method for treating painful gums that make it impossible to eat raw fruit

Take fresh rehmannia root and cinnamon bark, chew them together until their flavors blend, then swallow.

Another remedy: Take a handful of purslane, chew it, and the condition will be cured.

Formula for treating a dental abscess with swelling and blockage that keeps the mouth from opening

Take one large aconite tuber, eighteen zhu of Coptis rhizome, and one liang of alum. Grind the three ingredients into a fine powder and place it in a bamboo tube. Open the mouth and blow the powder into the throat, little by little and slowly.

“Zhu” is an ancient unit of weight. The bamboo tube is used to deliver the powder into the throat.