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Chewing-Stick Practices Using Plants with Anti-Streptococcal Activity in a Ugandan Rural Community

Background: The high dental disease burden in developing countries has created a need to explore and develop cheap and accessible methods of dental disease prevention. Traditional toothbrushes (chewing-sticks) prepared from specific plants have been used for dental hygiene for generations. When prop...

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Autores principales: Odongo, Charles Okot, Musisi, Nathan Lubowa, Waako, Paul, Obua, Celestino
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Research Foundation 2011
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3108601/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21687508
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2011.00013
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author Odongo, Charles Okot
Musisi, Nathan Lubowa
Waako, Paul
Obua, Celestino
author_facet Odongo, Charles Okot
Musisi, Nathan Lubowa
Waako, Paul
Obua, Celestino
author_sort Odongo, Charles Okot
collection PubMed
description Background: The high dental disease burden in developing countries has created a need to explore and develop cheap and accessible methods of dental disease prevention. Traditional toothbrushes (chewing-sticks) prepared from specific plants have been used for dental hygiene for generations. When properly used, chewing-sticks may be as effective as synthetic toothbrushes. This study set out to describe traditional chewing-stick practices in a Ugandan rural community, and evaluate the antibacterial activity of two most commonly used plants. Methods: Interviews were done to identify chewing-stick plants and obtain socio-cultural information relating to the practice in two villages in rural Uganda. Field walks were done to pick and voucher the plants, for taxonomical identification and storage. For the two most reported plants, aqueous extracts were prepared and tested for antibacterial activity against Streptococcus mutans using the agar-well diffusion method. Results: Of the 21 key informants interviewed, all were using or had used chewing-sticks in the past. A total of eight plants were identified as sources of chewing-sticks, with Rhus vulgaris and Lantana trifolia most commonly mentioned. Chewing-sticks were preferred over synthetic tooth brushes because they were less likely to traumatize the gums. Their use has been limited of recent due to scarcity of some plants. R. vulgaris and L. trifolia aqueous extracts showed antibacterial activity against S. mutans with mean diameters of inhibition of 24.33 ± 0.58 and 14.17 ± 0.29 mm on Blood agar respectively, compared to benzyl penicillin control 30.67 ± 0.29 mm. Conclusion: R. vulgaris and L. trifolia are the most common sources of chewing-sticks for cleaning teeth in this community. The plants contain compounds that are active against S. mutans. These plants merit further studies as they are possible sources of cheap dental health care for the rural poor.
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spelling pubmed-31086012011-06-16 Chewing-Stick Practices Using Plants with Anti-Streptococcal Activity in a Ugandan Rural Community Odongo, Charles Okot Musisi, Nathan Lubowa Waako, Paul Obua, Celestino Front Pharmacol Pharmacology Background: The high dental disease burden in developing countries has created a need to explore and develop cheap and accessible methods of dental disease prevention. Traditional toothbrushes (chewing-sticks) prepared from specific plants have been used for dental hygiene for generations. When properly used, chewing-sticks may be as effective as synthetic toothbrushes. This study set out to describe traditional chewing-stick practices in a Ugandan rural community, and evaluate the antibacterial activity of two most commonly used plants. Methods: Interviews were done to identify chewing-stick plants and obtain socio-cultural information relating to the practice in two villages in rural Uganda. Field walks were done to pick and voucher the plants, for taxonomical identification and storage. For the two most reported plants, aqueous extracts were prepared and tested for antibacterial activity against Streptococcus mutans using the agar-well diffusion method. Results: Of the 21 key informants interviewed, all were using or had used chewing-sticks in the past. A total of eight plants were identified as sources of chewing-sticks, with Rhus vulgaris and Lantana trifolia most commonly mentioned. Chewing-sticks were preferred over synthetic tooth brushes because they were less likely to traumatize the gums. Their use has been limited of recent due to scarcity of some plants. R. vulgaris and L. trifolia aqueous extracts showed antibacterial activity against S. mutans with mean diameters of inhibition of 24.33 ± 0.58 and 14.17 ± 0.29 mm on Blood agar respectively, compared to benzyl penicillin control 30.67 ± 0.29 mm. Conclusion: R. vulgaris and L. trifolia are the most common sources of chewing-sticks for cleaning teeth in this community. The plants contain compounds that are active against S. mutans. These plants merit further studies as they are possible sources of cheap dental health care for the rural poor. Frontiers Research Foundation 2011-03-16 /pmc/articles/PMC3108601/ /pubmed/21687508 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2011.00013 Text en Copyright © 2011 Odongo, Musisi, Waako and Obua. http://www.frontiersin.org/licenseagreement This is an open-access article subject to an exclusive license agreement between the authors and Frontiers Media SA, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original authors and source are credited.
spellingShingle Pharmacology
Odongo, Charles Okot
Musisi, Nathan Lubowa
Waako, Paul
Obua, Celestino
Chewing-Stick Practices Using Plants with Anti-Streptococcal Activity in a Ugandan Rural Community
title Chewing-Stick Practices Using Plants with Anti-Streptococcal Activity in a Ugandan Rural Community
title_full Chewing-Stick Practices Using Plants with Anti-Streptococcal Activity in a Ugandan Rural Community
title_fullStr Chewing-Stick Practices Using Plants with Anti-Streptococcal Activity in a Ugandan Rural Community
title_full_unstemmed Chewing-Stick Practices Using Plants with Anti-Streptococcal Activity in a Ugandan Rural Community
title_short Chewing-Stick Practices Using Plants with Anti-Streptococcal Activity in a Ugandan Rural Community
title_sort chewing-stick practices using plants with anti-streptococcal activity in a ugandan rural community
topic Pharmacology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3108601/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21687508
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2011.00013
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