Alternative medicinal interventions for oral diseases: Scoping review

• Main Authors: Ananthalekshmy Rajeev, Basavaraj Patthi, Ashish Singla, Ritu Gupta, Ravneet Malhi, Monika Rai
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2018-01-01
• Series: Journal of Indian Association of Public Health Dentistry
• Subjects: Complementary alternative medicine; complementary medicine; complementary therapies; stomatognathic diseases; tooth disease
• Online Access: http://www.jiaphd.org/article.asp?issn=2319-5932;year=2018;volume=16;issue=4;spage=277;epage=290;aulast=Rajeev

Oral diseases hamper the overall systems of our body. People of all age groups and races of different geographic locations are affected by oral diseases which range from dental caries to oral cancer. Therefore, timely dental treatment is needed. Apart from conventional therapies, complementary alternative medicines are becoming popular nowadays. The aim of this scoping review is to compare the efficacy of alternative medicinal interventions with conventional therapies among the living subjects for treating oral diseases. A literature search was performed in PubMed Central and Cochrane Library, Embase, Google Scholar up to 2017 to identify appropriate studies. Full text of original research articles, observational studies, in vivo studies, and randomized control trials were only included in the study. Our target finding was complementary alternative medicines for oral diseases. In the various articles available through the electronic database, 43 articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were selected for the review. Even though different studies explain different alternative treatment options, however, these studies show better efficiency for various oral diseases. Alternative medications with many beneficial properties are a good choice for the prevention or treatment of oral diseases without any side effects. In a developing country like India, where there are people who still cannot afford even their daily expenditure, alternative medicinal interventions will be a boon.