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The Grand Master of Qi (Qizhong Dafu) suffered from dental caries. Chunyu Yi applied moxibustion to the left Taiyang vessel (Taiyang channel) and prescribed Kushen Tang (Sophora Root Decoction), instructing him to rinse his mouth three times daily with three sheng (approx. 600ml) per time. After five or six days, the illness was cured. This resulted from wind pathogen invasion and sleeping with an open mouth without rinsing after eating. (From *Records of the Grand Historian*)

Liu Ji was over seventy years old but remained vigorous in spirit. Every time he drank alcohol, he would rinse his mouth, never forgetting even when drunk. He said this practice could prevent dental diseases. He consumed a small amount of food in the late afternoon and then attended to it. (From *Mingdao Magazine*)

Jinshi Liu Dunyi encountered someone who said: People’s self-care is often misplaced. Rinsing the mouth morning and night is inferior to rinsing before bed to remove accumulated residue between teeth, thereby strengthening them. Nowadays, people eat cold foods and must drink hot soup to warm the spleen and stomach; however, this actually chills the spleen, making warming impossible. It is better to drink hot soup to warm the spleen before eating cold foods, so that consuming cold items will cause no harm. (From *Han Yuan Ming Tan*)

Ni Yanji, a Chaofeng official, once served as a staff officer in Taiyuan Prefecture. He stated that the locals loved eating dates, regardless of status or age, often keeping them in their bosoms or sleeves for easy access. Consequently, many people in the commandery had yellow teeth due to date consumption. As Ji Kang (Ji Shuye) said: "Teeth become yellow among the Jin people, just as lice turn black on the head." (From *Dun Zhai Xian Lan*)

The stele at Lianhua Peak of the Western Mountain records a medicinal verse for treating oral/dental issues and darkening facial hair: Zhu Ya Zao Jiao (Gleditsia Sinensis Fruit Spine), Sheng Jiang (Fresh Ginger), Xi Guo Sheng Ma (Cimicifuga Herba from the West), Shu Di Huang (Rehmanniae Radix Praeparata), Mu Lv (Picrorhizae Rhizoma), Han Lian Cao (Ecliptae Herba), Huai Jiao Zi (Sophorae Fructus), Xi Xin (Asari Radix et Rhizoma), and He Ye (Nelumbinis Folium - specifically the heart cut from the leaf). These herbs should be used in equal proportions, roasted together with Qing Yan (Halitum), ground into fine powder, and used for brushing teeth to firm them and darken beard and sideburns. Who knows such a celestial prescription exists in the world? (From *Lei Yuan*)

Wang Hui, a Chancellor, had a favored disciple who enjoyed eating foods that trigger wind pathogens, particularly crabs. He sometimes made crab dumplings or crab strips and ate them freely. One day, he contracted a wind-heat disorder. A fleshy swelling emerged between his teeth, gradually enlarging until it blocked his mouth, preventing closure and the intake of water or gruel. He suffered excruciating pain and was near death. A Daoist priest claimed he could cure this. The Chancellor summoned physicians, and he recovered quickly. The method involved taking one bowl of juice from fresh Shu Di Huang (Prepared Rehmannia Root), several pieces of Zhu Ya Zao Jiao (Gleditsia Sinensis Fruit Spine), heating them on fire until hot, dipping the spice into the juice until fully absorbed, grinding it into powder, and applying it to the swollen flesh. The swelling immediately subsided. Later, many offered gold to obtain this prescription. (Narrated by his son-in-law, Physician Li)

After drinking continuously for months, the throat became ulcerated and sores appeared on the tongue. Boil river snails, clams, scallions, fermented soybeans, ginger, and pepper in water, drink three cups of the decoction, and the illness will resolve. (From *Sheng Hui Fang*)