Insight of Ethnomedicines in Dentistry: A Brief Review

Ethnomedicines in the literature compare the therapeutic efficacy of various herbs based on active ingredients of plants and animals. The application of phytomedicines in the field of dentistry is uncommon. The main objective of this article is to access the efficacy of ethnomedicines and newly evolving treatment modalities in reducing post-op complications following dentoalveolar surgeries. Inclusion criteria were selected according to the population, intervention, control, and outcomes (PICO) format. Case reports, case series, retrospective studies, and studies with inappropriate reporting of outcomes were all excluded. An electronic search of English literature in PubMed was performed using the keywords Ethnomedicine, Anti-inflammatory, Analgesics, Therapeutic herbs, Herbal mouthwashes, Third molar surgery. A total of 25 articles were selected, of which three were on herbal mouthwashes and 22 were on anti-inflammatory effect. All the articles were regarding the therapeutic effect of the herbs. The present paper studies various traditionally used therapeutic herbs, their benefits, and shortcomings with their application in dentistry. This study has shown the different herbal alternatives to conventionally used drugs in relation to third molar.