Arimedadi Thailam

Arimedadi Thailam is a classical Ayurvedic medicated oil made specifically for the mouth, the teeth and the gums, and it is one of the oldest of the oils the tradition sets aside for oral care. Its name joins Arimeda, the bark of the white cutch tree, with adi, meaning “and the rest,” a way of saying the oil is built around Arimeda but carries a company of other herbs alongside it. Unlike the massage oils that are worked into the body, this is an oil that lives in the mouth: held still, swished, and then spat away.

What it is

A Thailam is a sesame oil that has been slowly cooked with herbs until it has taken on their qualities. Arimedadi Thailam belongs to the group of oils the classical writers gather under Mukharoga, the disorders of the mouth, and it is one of the medicines they name for keeping the mouth firm and clean. The finished oil is warm in nature, astringent and drying, and it is aromatic, so that a little carries a strong, resinous, slightly bitter character across the whole mouth.

The oil sits in Ayurveda’s larger tradition of oral hygiene, which treats the mouth as a place that needs daily attention rather than occasional repair. The classical routine, Dinacharya, sets aside a morning practice for the mouth every bit as much as for the body, and Arimedadi Thailam is the medicated oil most often reached for when that practice calls for something stronger than plain sesame oil.

The classical source and its indications

The oil is described in Bhaishajya Ratnavali and in the Sahasrayogam, both of which place it among the preparations for Mukharoga. The texts on the diseases of the mouth, in Ashtanga Hridayam and elsewhere, describe a wide field: heaviness and sliminess of the mouth, loose or bleeding gums, a foul or altered taste, and the general laxity and swelling the tradition reads as an accumulation of Kapha and, at times, Vata in the soft tissues of the mouth.

Against this field, the tradition reaches for an oil that is warming, astringent and drying, the exact opposite of the heavy, slack, moist quality it is meant to counter. Arimedadi Thailam is classed as such an oil. Its astringent herbs are understood in Ayurveda to firm and tighten the soft tissues, so the classical indication is a mouth that feels heavy, loose, slimy or unsettled, where the gums have lost their firm hold and the taste has turned. It is also named simply as a preserving oil, used by the well to keep the teeth and gums strong and the mouth fresh, which is how most people meet it.

Its key herbs and base

The oil takes its name and its leading character from Arimeda, the bark of Vachellia leucophloea, the white cutch tree, which Ayurveda prizes as astringent, drying and cleansing, the qualities the tradition links with firm gums and a settled mouth. Around it the classical formula gathers a company of astringent and aromatic herbs of the same family of action. The precise list varies a little between texts, but it commonly includes bark and heartwood drugs of an astringent, kashaya nature together with fragrant, warming substances that lend the oil its aroma and its penetrating quality.

The base is sesame oil, tila taila, the classical medium for almost all medicated oils. Sesame oil is itself regarded as warming, penetrating and Vata-settling, and its fine, penetrating quality is understood to carry the qualities of the herbs into the tissues of the mouth. In the older method a decoction and a fine paste of the herbs are cooked into the sesame oil, so that the finished thailam is sesame oil that has become, in effect, a carrier of Arimeda and its companions.

How it is made

The method is the classical sneha-paka, the slow cooking of oil, and it follows the same pattern as the body oils. First a kashaya, a water decoction, is drawn from the astringent barks and heartwoods by simmering them in plenty of water and reducing it down. A separate kalka, a fine wet paste, is ground from a portion of the herbs. Sesame oil is warmed gently in a heavy vessel, and the decoction and paste are stirred in together.

The vessel is then held over a low, steady heat for hours, so that the watery part slowly cooks away and the oil takes up the qualities of the herbs. The maker watches for the traditional signs that the cooking is complete: the paste, rubbed between the fingers, rolls into a soft ball; the froth settles; the aroma turns. When the oil is judged ready it is strained clean through cloth and stored away from light and heat. A well made and well kept medicated oil holds its qualities for a long time.

How it is traditionally used

Arimedadi Thailam is an oil of the mouth, and it is used in two classical practices. In gandusha, the mouth is filled with the oil and it is held still, without moving it, for several minutes before being spat out. In kavala, a smaller amount is taken and gently moved, swished across the teeth and gums, and then spat out. Both are done on an empty stomach, most often in the morning as part of the daily routine, and both are followed by rinsing with warm water. The oil is never swallowed.

The dose, in the sense of the amount taken into the mouth, is modest, no more than the mouth can comfortably hold and move. There is no anupana in the usual sense, since the oil is not taken internally; the practice is complete in the mouth. Traditionally it is used as a course over a stretch of days, or kept up as a standing morning habit by those who wish to keep the mouth firm and fresh.

Which dosha it suits and its precautions

Because it is warm, astringent and drying, Arimedadi Thailam is best suited to the heaviness, sliminess and laxity the tradition reads as an excess of Kapha in the mouth, and to the unsettled quality of Vata in the gums. Its firming, tightening action is aimed squarely at soft tissue that has grown loose. It is used with more care where the mouth is already hot, dry or inflamed, since its warming nature may not suit a state the tradition would read as high Pitta.

As a medicated oil, it is meant to be held or swished and spat out, never swallowed. Its potency is real, and the amount, the frequency and the length of any course are matters for a qualified Ayurvedic practitioner, especially where the gums bleed, where the teeth are troubled, or where there is any medical or dental condition. The tradition treats oral oiling as support and daily discipline, not as a cure for disease.

This article describes the classical Ayurvedic understanding of Arimedadi Thailam and is for education, not medical advice. Speak to a qualified Ayurvedic practitioner and keep your dentist or doctor informed before taking up any medicated oil.