Herbal Products for Oral Hygiene

Abstract

Oral hygiene plays a crucial role in the prevention of oral diseases, including periodontitis, tooth decay, and oral candidiasis. In addition, many scientific studies show a relationship between oral health and cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and even death. In order to prevent caries formation and periodontal diseases, effective oral hygiene should be performed and plaques should be removed, plaque formation should be prevented, and strains should be removed. Patients and dentists are faced with different oral hygiene products containing active and inactive ingredients. Although chemical-based products are good at oral hygiene, there are many adverse effects of dental hygiene products, which are sold in the market. Effective usage of toothbrush, floss, or rinse is found very important for making oral hygiene even without using any chemicals. In addition, although popular herbal products have helped to control dental plaque and gingivitis, their safety and efficacy is not researched in detail. Herbal products may offer significant advantages over the chemical ones with less side effects and high antimicrobial potential. In addition, people are aware of the effects of herbal products for oral care, and their interest in these products has increased recently. Traditional herbal-based treatments provide reduced adverse reactions of chemical counterparts such as resistance to antibiotics, corrosion, or staining of teeth. Herbal products such as clove and clove oil, coconut oil, pomegranate, green tea, Salvadora persica (meswak), Aloe vera, Acacia arabica, Melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree), Azadirahta indica (neem), and licorice are used to promote oral hygiene, and their inhibitory effect on biofilm formation is shown in different studies. According to bioactivity studies on these species, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anticariogenic, and astringent properties were observed for their components and/or extracts. If such herbal products can be formulated effectively, this may lead to an improvement in the general dental health of the population. Summarized here are such natural products, which may be used effectively in the commercial formulations and/or personal product.