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Long Chi龙齿

Draconis Dens / Fossilia Dentis Mastodi · Dragon Tooth · Fossilised Tooth

Herbs that Calm the Spirit 安神药Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing 《神农本草经》(recorded within the Long Gu 龙骨 entry)

Overview

The fossilised teeth of the same prehistoric mammals whose bone is dispensed as Long Gu 龙骨, and the herb appended to it in the settling, spirit-anchoring group. Sweet, astringent and cool, it is the more single-minded of the pair: where Long Gu both settles the spirit and astringes leakage, Long Chi settles only — a heavy mineral aimed squarely at fright, palpitations and a mind that will not rest, with a little more heat-clearing to it. Like any dense mineral it is decocted before the rest of the formula.

Nature & Flavor

Sweet, astringent · Cool

Channels

Heart · Liver

Typical Dosage

15–30 g, decocted first
龙齿Photography for this entry is on its way.

Actions

3 core actions

  • Settles fright, calms the spiritPalpitations with fright, anxiety, insomnia with disturbed dreams, night terrors in children, and convulsive or manic states under specialist care.
  • Clears heat, relieves agitationRestlessness and irritability where a low heat keeps the spirit unsettled — the cool edge that distinguishes it from Long Gu.
  • How it differs from Long GuLong Gu is sweet and neutral and astringes: sweating, seminal emission, uterine bleeding, chronic discharge all belong to it, especially calcined. Long Chi has none of that holding action; choose it when the problem is purely a spirit that will not settle.

In Formulas

Formulas containing Long Chi

Indications & Clinical Uses

  • Palpitations with fright, anxiety, restlessness
    - Insomnia with vivid or disturbing dreams; night terrors in children
    - Irritability and agitation with underlying heat
    - Convulsive and manic states, as part of a supervised prescription

Western Medical Keywords

Searchable condition terms

InsomniaAnxietyPalpitationsNight terrors

Contraindications

Cautions

A dense fossil mineral, so the practical cautions are the mineral ones. It must be broken up and decocted first or most of it never reaches the cup. It is slow and heavy on the digestion: patients with a weak Spleen and Stomach, poor appetite or loose stools tolerate it badly, and it is prescribed in defined courses rather than indefinitely. It settles rather than nourishes, so wind or restlessness arising from blood and yin depletion needs nourishing herbs alongside it, not this alone. Sourcing deserves attention — fossil bone and tooth are a finite, poorly standardised material and the market carries substitutes and mixed grades, so the supplier matters more here than for a cultivated herb.

Contraindicated in pregnancy: No specific restriction — it carries no classical pregnancy prohibition, but it is a heavy settling mineral and belongs under practitioner supervision rather than in self-treatment.

For licensed practitioners’ reference only

References

  1. Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing《神农本草经》(classical source, public domain).
    2. Bensky, Clavey & Stöger. Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica, 3rd ed.
    3. 《中华人民共和国药典》.

Professional reference notice. Entries are scholarly references for licensed TCM practitioners and students — not medical advice, and not a recommendation to self-prescribe. Chinese herbal formulas should be used under the guidance of a qualified practitioner. Content is an original editorial compilation by Cura x Cura, cross-checked against the cited references.