Laird's article covers the social and the cultural life of the Arabic Miswak. The author aims at exploring how the Muslims kept and maintained the information about the indigenous medicines and the various forms that the people passed the information about their famous drugs. The article as well touches on how they maintained their oral hygiene. It focuses on brushing stick among the Somali community. Somali incorporated their hygiene with their social life. The uncommon tooth problems among people of Somali origin is attributed the famous adage. The knowledge about the adage was passed from one generation to another. The maintenance of oral health is a custom among the Somali. They believe that that Quran proposes the reason of maintenance of oral hygiene (Laird et al, 2015).
The origin of the Miswak according to various researches indicates that it started a ways back to the Somali ancestors. The author wants to bring out how the Miswak was useful among its indigenous people. Medicine had different names among the communities who used the same herbs. Prescription of the medicine was clearly adhered since the beginning of knowledge about the medicine. There was an idea that different part of the tree cured some disorders. Hygiene was maintained using naturally occurring plant extracts. Spiritual cleanness was supported with good hygiene (Laird et al, 2015).
The article critically addresses the role of religion in health especially concerning the care of teeth. It explains the origin of the original toothbrush, which was in the form of a stick. Anthropologists attribute the care of teeth to the use of the stick in ancient times. The use of stick is also attributed to nature, culture, and religion. Regarding religion, the Muslims have attributed the use of stick for cleaning the teeth as part of ethics taught by the Prophet. The issue of the time from the place of origin and the use of the traditional tooth stick is also described.
Different communities had their different ways of maintaining their oral hygiene. The information about the concoction was passed through generations by incorporating social life with religion and culture. Modern medicine that we use currently has an ancestral origin, they were used in their crude state by at least a community in the ancient days. The medicine was treated as sacred and incorporated with daily social activities. Medicine was introduced to the other parts of the world from a centralized origin through migrations (Laird et al, 2015).
The question that came to my mind as I was reading the article was if the tree that was used as a toothbrush had related species. Can the compounds in the stick be isolated and added to toothpaste to help in cleaning the teeth with the modern plastic brushes? Knowing this will be of great advantage since maybe other species had great efficacy and isolation of active compounds can help us appreciate the history of medical grounds.
References
Laird, L. D., Barnes, L. L., Hunter‐Adams, J., Cochran, J., & Geltman, P. L. (2015). Looking Islam in the Teeth: The Social Life of a Somali Toothbrush. Medical anthropology quarterly, 29(3), 334-356.
