Throughout the ages,there have been many"tooth medicines"recorded in a variety of prescriptions,some used for wiping teeth,and some used for brushing teeth.But they are rarely applied in modern clinic or life.According to this textual research,tooth medicines refer to a special prescription that ancient people applied medicine powder or liquid medicine to teeth by one or more ways of gargling,wiping teeth,brushing teeth to treat diseases.They can not only be used to treat oral problems such as toothache,bad breath,and tooth clenching,but also to treat non-oral diseases such as hair regrowth,benefiting qi and preserving health,or lumbago and jaundice,featuring a wide range of application.In addition to the well-known salt,there are also pungent medicines such as manchurian wildginger,musk and largetrifoliolious bugbane rhizome,as well as nutgrass galingale rhizome that can both regulate and benefit qi,and unprocessed rehmannia root that can both clear internal heat to relieve pain and nourish kidney yin,and so on.From the perspectives of prescription and medication,tooth medicines are characterized by combining syndrome differentiation with disease differentiation,treating both internal and external conditions,and easy administration.Similar in the composition of their formulae with related oral medicines,tooth medicines,although different in the route of administration,can also play a role in treating diseases.