Background: The use of herbal products in oral cavity has shown an increased popularity and potential benefits due to their additional anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties as well as the lack of side effects related to their use.
Objective: To assess the clinical effectiveness of herbal dental products (mouthwash, dentifrice, gel) when compared to conventional products or placebo in periodontitis patients.
Material and methods: A systematic review with 22 studies was carried out using MEDLINE/Pubmed, EMBASE and Web of Science databases in addition to hand searches. Randomized and non-randomized clinical trials that evaluated the effect of any herbal dental product and compared it with conventional products or placebo in periodontitis patients and published up to March 2022, were screened.
Results: Herbal products used as adjuncts to scaling and root planing (SRP) or supragingival debridement (SPD) led to superior clinical outcomes than placebo or no adjuncts (8 studies). In conjunction with SRP, these products showed comparable outcomes with chlorhexidine (6 studies) or better (4 studies). When used as adjuncts to SPD, herbal oral care products demonstrated comparable outcomes with chlorhexidine and conventional products (4 studies).
Conclusions: Within the limitations of this systematic review, herbal oral care products may play a key role in the management of periodontal disease. Further well-designed studies are needed to establish their efficacy.
Keywords: chlorhexidine; herbal; oral care; phytotherapy; scaling and root planing (SRP); systematic review.