Complementary and Alternative Medicines in Oral Health Care

Abstract

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) uses a holistic approach that finds natural solutions that help the immune system to fight off infection and diseases. In conventional medicine, the diseases are treated as a series of symptoms developed and not its actual cause or etiology, but CAM commonly targets the exact cause of the disorder thereby stimulating the body's healing process. This is based on an integrative literature review of methods and techniques used as complementary and alternative approaches for oral health care. A comprehensive electronic database search was conducted in PubMed, CINAHL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Google, Google Scholar, and SCOPUS. Medicinal plants such as Medicago Sativa, Aloe Barbadensis Miller (Aloe Vera), and Trifolium Pratense (Red Clover) have excellent applications in treating gum disorders, prevent tooth decay, and have demonstrated good antifungal activity in the oral cavity. Homeopathic medicines such as Belladonna, Antimonium crudum, and Chamomilla have useful applications in relieving toothache. In Chinese medicine, various acupressure points (Acupuncture) have been used to relieve pain related to tooth, head-and-neck region, sinusitis, etc. Dental professionals can utilize these treatment modalities in their practice along with other conventional procedures as an integrative treatment approach to achieve better outcomes.

The association between complementary and alternative medicine use with breast cancer recurrence in Taif city, Saudi Arabia

“…16 CAM therapies include herbal products, Chinese medicine, homeopathy, special diets, mind-body techniques, body-based treatments, energy-based treatments, and other systems of healing. 17,18 In our study, herbal remedies and plant extracts were the most commonly used CAM therapies among BC patients after diagnosis.…”

Effect of photobiomodulation therapy on pain perception during anesthetic puncture of dental local anesthesia: A systematic review

“…Pain perception during the anesthetic technique is usually noticed in two moments: at needle insertion and local anesthetic deposition [31] . There are numerous resources to make local anesthesia more comfortable, such as local anesthetic gels [32] , computerized local anesthesia systems [33] , behavioral management techniques [34] , acupuncture combined with conventional treatments [35] , anesthetic puncture site pre-cooling [36] , and some clinical trials have already been conducted to test PBMT as one of these resources. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the effect of photobiomodulation therapy on pain perception during the anesthetic puncture of dental local anesthesia.…”

Role of medicinal herbs in periodontal therapy: A systematic review

“…Chlorhexidine, a substance frequently applied topically as an antibacterial, has been reported to cause negative effects such as allergic contact dermatitis and anaphylaxis. [ 13 14 ]…”

“…[ 17 18 ] Table 3 illustrates the conclusive research remarks published recently from 2010 to 2022. [ 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 ]…”