{"id":2913,"date":"2015-05-02T08:25:24","date_gmt":"2015-05-02T08:25:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/biomedpharmajournal.org\/?p=2913"},"modified":"2016-09-05T09:24:04","modified_gmt":"2016-09-05T09:24:04","slug":"herbs-used-in-dentistry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biomedpharmajournal.org\/staging\/vol7no1\/herbs-used-in-dentistry\/","title":{"rendered":"Herbs Used in Dentistry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n

The word ayurvedha is derived from \u2018ayu\u2019 meaning \u2018life\u2019 and \u2018vedha\u2019 meaning \u2018knowledge\u2019. Ayurvedha literally means the science that imparts all the knowledge of life. Herbs are one of remedial agents which God has created for afflicted humans. Herbal extracts have been used in traditional medicine for several thousand years [1].<\/p>\n

There are many medicinal systems such as ayurvedha, unani, siddha.In India, it has been reported that traditional healers use 2,500 plant species and that 100 species of plants serve as regular sources of medicine(2). 80% of the population depends on herbs for routine health care needs. The development of indigenous medicines and the use of medicinal plants carry considerable economic benefits in the treatment of various diseases [3].<\/p>\n

Discussion\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the developed countries, 25% of the medical drugs are based on herbs and their derivatives [4]. There has been clinical success in treatment of variety of oral complaints like oral ulcers, xerostomia, leukoplakia & periodontitis. Traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) also gave successful outcomes in treating dental diseases. \u00a0The natural phytochemicals could offer an effective alternative to antibiotics and represent a promising approach in prevention and therapeutic strategies for dental caries and other oral infections.[5].<\/p>\n

Twig are used for tooth brushing, it contains volatile oils which stimulates blood circulation,& tannins which cleanses gums. Commonly used are neem twigs (azadirachta indica).<\/p>\n

Triphala as the implicates it is equal combination of three important ayurvedic herbs,\u00a0 Amalaka (Emblica officinalis), haritaki (Terminalia chebula), bibheetaka (Terminalia bellirica). Saindhava salt is also used as tooth powders. These are made into a paste using honey. This herbal extract effectively inhibited bio-film formation and the better antioxidant activity which is exhibited by this extract could protect the gum cells effectively from free radicals than the commercial toothpastes. Thus, Triphala could be used as an effective antiplaque agent [6]. It inhibits aggregations of S. mutans, thus acting as an anticarcinogenic, inhibiting increase in red blood cells and aiding in removal of undesirable fat. It can also be used in the treatment of cancers [7].<\/p>\n

This mouth rinse contains several naturally occurring, anti-inflammatory agents such as aloe vera and calendula and antimicrobial agents such as Golden Seal and grapefruit seeds. It was opined that when it was applied specifically against the broad spectrum of oral bacteria which are responsible for gingivitis, plaque and periodontal disease, this herbal mouth rinse could prove beneficial for maintaining oral health [4].<\/p>\n

Azadirachta indica<\/em>\u00a0mouth wash is reported to inhibit growth of\u00a0S. mutans<\/em>\u00a0and carious lesions [8]. \u00a0Antibacterial activity of some plant species like\u00a0Melia azadirachta, Calotropis gigantean, Leucas aspera, Vitex negundo<\/em>,<\/em> and others have been tested [9].<\/p>\n

Aloe vera suggests to have anti bacterial, antifungal, antiviral properties. The aloe vera tooth gel and the toothpastes were equally effective against Candida albicans, Streptococcus mutans, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Enterococcus faecalis<\/em>, Prevotella intermedia and Peptostreptococcus anaerobius<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Aloe vera tooth gel also has an enhanced antibacterial effect against S. mitis [10]. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The herbal extract, German chamomile used as an irrigant to disinfect the root canal. Jasper powder (Chinese herb) is used in treating oral ulcers<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n

The main aim of this article is to explore and use the readily available resources in day today life, for healthier living. These provides considerable evidence that plant extracts, essential oils & purified phytochemicals have the potential to be developed into agents that can be used as preventive or curative agents for dental diseases .<\/p>\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Rabia A Abu. Urinary diseases and ethnobotany among pastoral nomads in the Middle East. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. 2005; 1(4):1-4<\/li>\n
  2. \u00a0Lev E. Ethno-diversity within current ethno-pharmacology as part of Israeli traditional medicine \u2013 A review. Journal of Ethnobiology and ethnomedicine. 2006; 2(4):1-12<\/li>\n
  3. H Azaizeh, S Fulder, K Khalil, O Said. Ethnomedicinal knowledge of local Arab practitioners in the Middle East Region. Fitoterapia. 2000; 74: 98-108.<\/li>\n
  4. \u00a0P Principe. Monetising the pharmacological benefits of plants. US Environmental protection Agency, Washington, D.C 1991.<\/li>\n
  5. \u00a0Singh J, Kumar A, Budhiraja S, Hooda A. Ethnomedicine: Use in dental caries.\u00a0Braz J Oral Sci.\u00a02007;6:21.<\/li>\n
  6. \u00a0L Jagadish, VK Anand Kumar, V Kaviyarasan. Effect of Triphala on dental bio-film.Indian Journal of Science and Technology. 2009; 2: 30-33.<\/li>\n
  7. Thomas B, Y Shetty S, Vasudeva A, Shetty V. Comparative evaluation of antimicrobial activity of triphala and commercially available toothpastes: an in vitro study. International Journal of Public Health Dentistry 2011; 2(1):8-12.<\/li>\n
  8. \u00a0Chopra RN, Chopra IC, Handa KL, Kapur LD.\u00a0Chopra’s indigenous drugs of India.\u00a02nd ed. Calcutta: UN Dhur and Sons; 1958.<\/li>\n
  9. Kelmanson JE, J\u00e4ger AK, van Staden J. Zulu medicinal plants with antibacterial activity.\u00a0J Ethnopharmacol.\u00a02000; 69:241\u20136.\u00a0[PubMed].<\/li>\n
  10. D George, SS Bhat, B Antony. Comparative evaluation of the antimicrobial efficacy of aloe Vera tooth gel and two popular commercial toothpastes: An in vitro study. General Dentistry. 2008; 238-40.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Introduction The word ayurvedha is derived from \u2018ayu\u2019 meaning \u2018life\u2019 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vol7no1"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biomedpharmajournal.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biomedpharmajournal.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biomedpharmajournal.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biomedpharmajournal.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biomedpharmajournal.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2913"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/biomedpharmajournal.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8467,"href":"https:\/\/biomedpharmajournal.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2913\/revisions\/8467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biomedpharmajournal.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biomedpharmajournal.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biomedpharmajournal.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}