My grandmother’s chewing stick

The family system

The family is the first point of call when it comes to shaping one’s life. One group of people in the family system who are repositories of life’s experiences and are less spoken of when it comes to the teaching of values are our grandparents. The life experiences of these groups are not those written in motivational books, but rather what they have lived and can attest to.

In a typical Ghanaian society, a child’s relationship begins with his or her grandmother right from birth. This is where the grandmother bathes the child, sings lullabies to the child, and also shows the mother how to do same. Grandmothers, like heroes, are as necessary to a child’s growth as vitamins.

My grandmother

As a child, I lived with my grandmother until I turn twenty. My late grandmother, Mrs. Akosua Debrah, popularly called Daavi Akosua in her community was a woman known to be very agile. Even as a nonagerian, my grandmother could go to her farm unaided and could do virtually every chore my mother does in the house. She won the admiration of most people in our community.

As her habit was, hardly will you see grandma without her chewing sticks. Early every morning, she makes a stick from the twigs or the roots of a plant and chews it until one end is frayed.

Sometimes also, she would fashion the sticks by shredding them and rolling the shreds into a ball with her fingers to form a sponge. She then chews the sponge from time to time and scrubs it on her teeth and gum. As she chews the plant, she swallows the liquid which comes out from it.

For her, the best chewing sticks are ones having a good flavor and texture, and a recognized effect on the teeth and gum. Freshly cut specimens are always her favourites as they are easily chewed into a brush.

Chewing stick

Using a chewing stick is a simple task, generally learned at a young age from parents and other relatives. It’s been practiced since antiquity and has been used by many cultures for tooth cleansing. Even now in Ghana, most people still patronize this traditional system of oral health since its inexpensive and easily available. Some common plants used as chewing sticks in Ghana include Garcinia mannii (Sokodua), Terminalia catappa (abrofonkateƐ), Psidium guajava (Guava), and Azadirachta indica (Neem tree).

I undertook some research work a few days ago on ‘African Traditional Methods for Oral Health’ and I happened to stumble upon some scientific findings about my late grandmother’s favorite chewing stick which may have contributed to how agile, strong, and healthy she was even at an old age.

My grandmother’s favourite oral health tool was made from the twig of Garcinia mannii (Sokodua), a popular plant in Southern Ghana. According to two studies (Odongo et al, 2011 and Addai et al, 2010), the plant has antistreptococcal activity and contains compounds such as tannic acid and lectins which could reduce bacterial colonization, decay, and periodontal diseases.

It also neutralizes acidogenic challenges to teeth hence a great potential for dental caries prevention.

Aside from this plant caring for the oral cavity, extracts from the plant according to research protect other systems of the human body. For example, aqueous extract from the stem bark of the plant is found to contain nutritional antioxidants which induce apoptosis in cancer cells and suppresses degenerative diseases such as cardiovascular diseases (Hypertension, stroke), rheumatoid arthritis, and diabetes (Clegg, 2007).

Tannic acid and morin present in the plant can change plasma lipid profile and exhibit hypolipidemic activity thereby reducing high levels of cholesterol in the body. The plant has also shown antimalarial properties (Chan et al, 2011).

These scientific findings reveal that even as my grandmother was chewing her sticks, the juice from the stick may also be nourishing and healing other parts of her body and to some extent act as prophylaxis against certain infections. So then I wonder, could this habit be some of the reasons why my grandmother and our ancestors lived long compared to our generation? Could it also be that these chewing sticks were the magic wand that ensured grandma’s good health?

Conclusion

Correlative evidence suggests that the empirical rationale of plant selection for oral health prevention and cure may have a sound scientific basis; thus, countries with limited health budgets like Ghana must endeavor to develop their own approaches to oral health by reaching back to our cultural heritages. Traditional medicine is a rich resource that should not be neglected.