Is flavor component in dental product therapeutic?

Abstract

Madam, Dental and oral care products are available in different flavors. Though flavoring is a marketing strategy for luring consumers, its components does have benefit on oral/dental tissues. Thus, it is necessary for the dental health team to advice the right flavor of products, which are palatable and equally therapeutic. This article discusses the principal types, modes of activity, benefits, and the possible allergic reactions of flavors. The flavor compositions find application in a wide range of consumer products, particularly oral care consumer products such as toothpastes, mouthwashes, chewing gum, confectionery, dental floss, dissolvable mouth films, breath sprays, and breath-freshening tablets as well as therapeutic dental product like restorative materials, impression materials, isolators, wedges, etc. Flavors are very important in consumer acceptance, as its component principally impresses the taste and smell senses. The U.S. Code of Federal Regulations describes a ‘natural flavorant’ as “theconstituents derived from a spice, fruit, vegetable, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or any other edible portions of a plant, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose primary function is flavoring rather than nutritional”