- 6 days ago
#bushcraft #toothcaretips #miswak
Forget the plastic brush! In this lesson, Instructor Wilkołaak dives deep into primitive yet highly effective skills for maintaining dental health in the bush or off-grid. We explore two powerful native resources: Dogwood and Willow.
Traditional dental twigs (often referred to as Miswak in other regions) have been used effectively for thousands of years. This video isn't just about survival; it's about validating ancient practices with modern understanding.
In this video, Instructor Wilkołaak covers:
Identifying and Ethically Harvesting Red Dogwood: Learn how to source your materials sustainably and respectfully.
Preparation: A close-up demonstration of safely preparing the stick using a knife, converting the raw wood into a usable "brush" or scraper.
Proper Technique: Don't just scrub! Watch a detailed demonstration on teeth to learn the safe and effective method for scraping the tooth surface without damaging your gums.
The Science: Instructor Wilkołaak discusses how these natural methods are scientifically backed by studies, demonstrating their efficacy and safety when done correctly.
Master these essential woodcraft skills and reclaim your oral health with Instructor Wilkołaak!
🌲 Instructor Wilkołaak's Safety Notes:
⚠️ PLANT IDENTIFICATION IS CRUCIAL: Never use a plant if you are not 100% positive of its identity.
🌿 WILLOW CAUTION: Willow contains salicylic acid (the natural forerunner to aspirin). Those with aspirin allergies, bleeding disorders, or who are taking blood thinners should not use Willow.
🦷 TECHNIQUE IS KEY: Imposing improper pressure or angles can damage your gums. Always follow the guidelines shown in the demonstration.
⚕️ DISCLAIMER: This video is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional dental advice. Instructor Wilkołaak recommends consulting your dentist for medical guidance.
💬 JOIN THE COMMUNITY:
What natural tools do you use for hygiene in the bush? Share your experiences in the comments below!
Like, Share, and SUBSCRIBE for more authentic wilderness skills with Instructor Wilkołaak!
#InstructorWilkołaak #WildernessSkills #NaturalHealth #DentalHygiene #BushcraftMedicine #EthicalHarvesting #SurvivalDental #PrimitiveSkills #Miswak #NatureBrushing #Dogwood #Willow #OutdoorEducation
Forget the plastic brush! In this lesson, Instructor Wilkołaak dives deep into primitive yet highly effective skills for maintaining dental health in the bush or off-grid. We explore two powerful native resources: Dogwood and Willow.
Traditional dental twigs (often referred to as Miswak in other regions) have been used effectively for thousands of years. This video isn't just about survival; it's about validating ancient practices with modern understanding.
In this video, Instructor Wilkołaak covers:
Identifying and Ethically Harvesting Red Dogwood: Learn how to source your materials sustainably and respectfully.
Preparation: A close-up demonstration of safely preparing the stick using a knife, converting the raw wood into a usable "brush" or scraper.
Proper Technique: Don't just scrub! Watch a detailed demonstration on teeth to learn the safe and effective method for scraping the tooth surface without damaging your gums.
The Science: Instructor Wilkołaak discusses how these natural methods are scientifically backed by studies, demonstrating their efficacy and safety when done correctly.
Master these essential woodcraft skills and reclaim your oral health with Instructor Wilkołaak!
🌲 Instructor Wilkołaak's Safety Notes:
⚠️ PLANT IDENTIFICATION IS CRUCIAL: Never use a plant if you are not 100% positive of its identity.
🌿 WILLOW CAUTION: Willow contains salicylic acid (the natural forerunner to aspirin). Those with aspirin allergies, bleeding disorders, or who are taking blood thinners should not use Willow.
🦷 TECHNIQUE IS KEY: Imposing improper pressure or angles can damage your gums. Always follow the guidelines shown in the demonstration.
⚕️ DISCLAIMER: This video is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional dental advice. Instructor Wilkołaak recommends consulting your dentist for medical guidance.
💬 JOIN THE COMMUNITY:
What natural tools do you use for hygiene in the bush? Share your experiences in the comments below!
Like, Share, and SUBSCRIBE for more authentic wilderness skills with Instructor Wilkołaak!
#InstructorWilkołaak #WildernessSkills #NaturalHealth #DentalHygiene #BushcraftMedicine #EthicalHarvesting #SurvivalDental #PrimitiveSkills #Miswak #NatureBrushing #Dogwood #Willow #OutdoorEducation
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00hey this is vilka yak from barefoot bushcraft thank you so much for tuning into this video
00:04and i'm going to talk today about something that very few of the bushcraft people in the community
00:09actually talk about for those of us who actually live in the wilderness and dress in the buckskins
00:14there's more to life than buying fancy knives and axes and tools there's a lot more to life
00:20than that there's a lot more subtleties to that and one of those things is how do you take care
00:25of your teeth seriously you can't brush well i suppose you could but you should not be brushing
00:30your your your teeth with a knife no matter how expensive or fancy your brand is um so what do
00:37you do well believe it or not rather than taking the plastic route and taking the modern route
00:42nature provides as it always does right behind me here this is red ochre dogwood you can tell because
00:50it's red now it is uh it is late spring here where this is being filmed at this time and
00:56you can see
00:56the red ochre dogwood has this red color to it you can very easily identify it by it having those
01:02little
01:03what kind of like little white dots on the redness that's a toothbrush so all i need to do in
01:10order to
01:10use this toothbrush is break is break a piece off ethically and by what ethically means is look at
01:17all the dogwood here taking one small piece just like this and taking it and either breaking it or
01:25cutting it off is not going to damage the dogwood in this area so i'm going to harvest one piece
01:31and
01:31i'll show you how it's done so i'm just basically going to take my little knife and i'm just going
01:36to
01:36cut this little piece off right there i'm holding the camera so it's going to not going to show very
01:41well it's really horrible oh my gosh there we go and that's willow
01:49here we go so that's exactly what you're looking at nice little piece of red ochre dogwood there
01:55and you see how it has that 45 degree angle it's just what we need in order to keep our
02:00teeth clean
02:01in the woods and keep free so once i've got my stick again red ochre dogwood i'm going to take
02:09it
02:09and i'm going to cut it at a 45 degree angle use your favorite knife make a cut there we
02:15go
02:15you can kind of see that nice little angle on there so what that's designed to do is to get
02:20some
02:20poking and scrubbing but again what you don't want is an older stick because an older stick will be
02:26stabby this here's what your teeth are supposed to look like we've got our nice little angle cut
02:31it doesn't have to be exactly 45 degrees the reason that we want it like that is so that it
02:36will slip
02:37in just like this see how it can slip in and it can push into the gums now again you
02:42don't want
02:42a an older stick that's sharp because the sharp stick older stick can actually get into your gum
02:49line there and it can break off so you don't want that and then all you basically do is just
02:53take
02:54it and polish you take the corner and you're going to put the corner in like this and you're going
02:58to
02:58kind of rub each tooth and what you're basically doing is taking all the plaque taking all the scum
03:04taking up everything off of it and you just basically go all the way around just like that
03:09that's kind of it and then same for the bottom right don't push too hard at first because if you
03:15push this into your gums all you're going to do is you're going to hurt yourself then you're going
03:20to open your mouth up like that and you're going to get the back now i personally find getting my
03:26back
03:26teeth and lower teeth here is really challenging the inside here again i just go in there and i polish
03:32them like that i'll push it in there um make sure you get these back teeth right if for some
03:38reason
03:38these back teeth here you forget them consistently the plaque and tartar will build up there and then
03:44you will actually end up getting cavities and stuff so you want it like that okay we can flip it
03:49all the
03:50way open so you can see it should go in nicely and just sort of rub them try to get
03:55these little corners
03:55in there poke around and you're trying to pull everything out again be gentle with your body
04:01but this these front teeth are where i really struggle because you know your mouth doesn't flip
04:06open for the most part so i find these are really hard to get these ones here and at the
04:12back so i'll
04:13often go in on both sides but once you're done basically you're you're you're done with your teeth
04:20right and you're done with your stick you can either keep the stick for a couple days until it's
04:24no longer wiggly until it's brittle and then you have to throw it away and get a new one
04:28and that's basically how you do it just like they taught you in school things you don't want to do
04:33again you don't want to jam that in there as hard as you can because you can break a piece
04:38off
04:38and you don't want slivers in your gums right the other thing you don't want to do with this is
04:44is use
04:44an old stick again it can break off right be gentle and you want to go up and down like
04:51this
04:51right you do not at all want to go back and forth because if you go back and forth especially
04:57with
04:57if you go and you buy the special sticks off amazon or whatever you'll find that it can scrape your
05:03teeth in the bad way you don't want to scrape them this way so you want to go up and
05:07down always with
05:08that up and down motion and you can pick out anything that's in there and be nice and gentle it's
05:13really really good for your gums this is exactly how you do it just like this and then in there
05:19a
05:19little bit and that's how you do it so let's get into some of the questions that will inevitably ask
05:24about this so the first thing is is it safe absolutely it is safe in fact you can go around
05:29the internet and you can find that using a stick to brush your teeth is clinically proven like i had
05:36just said earlier there in the demonstration you know you're just scraping off the plaque the other
05:41question i will often get is do i need to have an absolutely fresh cut yes it is best for
05:47you to
05:47get a fresh cut stick there's a few reasons for it number one any of like literally like the juices
05:53and the stuff that's actually in the stick like the tannins and things like that for from willow or
05:59from the red oak or dogwood are actually really good for you and the other thing is you want it
06:05soft a
06:05fresh harvest is going to be a softer stick because you could theoretically break the stick off in your
06:12gum and you could get a sliver in your gum well let's not do that so you want something that
06:19is
06:20fairly nice and soft so the idea is it's going to polish your tooth and scrape off the guck and
06:27the
06:27pieces of food versus going there and break off under your gum you don't want that other thing people ask
06:34does it take longer absolutely yes it is not an electric toothbrush that you just push the button
06:40it whirs and it does its thing you are doing the old-fashioned ways you are reclaiming your human
06:46roots when you do this and so it takes a little while but some people find it more fun i
06:51actually
06:51rather enjoy it and i find myself brushing my teeth more often doing this so i'm like oh i'm hiking
06:58there's some some dogwood and i'll grab it and i'll start doing my teeth right away now what i
07:04won't do is show you online one of the things i really hate is um is when people like brush
07:11their
07:11teeth on camera so that's why i bought the little device to show you how to do it i will
07:16not be doing
07:17that but that's hopefully that answers a couple of your questions you can also go online and find all
07:22these studies that show that the different uh tree branches and stuff are really good and does as good
07:28of a job if not better because you're more careful than a toothbrush the other question is can i use
07:34any old stick and the short answer is sure absolutely you can use whatever stick you want there are sticks
07:40that have different tannins and oils in them that are better for your gums and skin um but in an
07:45emergency
07:46it's better to scrape your teeth with whatever stick that you find that's relatively clean
07:51versus not doing it at all
07:56so know and understand that the important thing is not just knives and tools and fire and shelter
08:01and all that good stuff and water filtration but self-care is very very important in the wilderness
08:07you do not want to get a toothache out here and the easiest way to prevent that is to scrape
08:12all
08:12the plaque and the goop off your teeth as i showed you literally with a stick so there's a bunch
08:17of
08:18things that you can use i live in north america you can use uh willow which is spectacular willow is
08:24really really good because it has a lot of tannins and stuff in it that are actually really healthy for
08:29your gums red ochre dogwood is also really healthy and if you're in the old world they used pieces of
08:34oak uh if you can find a nice oak tree to say because it's a little stronger and it does
08:38a bit more
08:39scrapey but the red ochre uh dogwood has medicine in it and so does the um so does the willow
08:45anyways
08:46i want to thank you so much for watching this video i'm vilko yak for barefoot bushcraft please
08:51consider subscribing
08:52you
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