INTRODUCTION:

Oral diseases continue to be a major health problem worldwide [1]. Dental caries and periodontal diseases are among the most important global oral health problems, although conditions such as oral and pharyngeal cancers and oral tissue lesions are also significant health concerns [2]. Despite general advances in the overall health status of the people living in industrialized countries, including oral and dental health, the prevalence of dental caries in school aged children is up to 90% and the majority of adults are also affected [1]. The link between oral diseases and the activities of microbial species that form part of the microbiota of the oral cavity is well established [3].Over 750 species of bacteria inhabit the oral cavity (50% of which are yet to be identified) and a number of these are implicated in oral diseases [3]. The global need for alternative prevention and treatment options and products for oral diseases that are safe, effective and economical comes from the rise in disease incidence (particularly in developing countries), increased resistance by pathogenic bacteria to currently used antibiotics and chemotherapeutics, opportunistic infections in immunocompromized individuals and financial considerations in developing countries [4, 5].

Plant: Amla

Generic Name: Phylanthus emblica

Useful Parts: Leaves

Active Constituents: Anthraquinone

Properties: Antioxidants

PLANT ANATOMY:

The tree is small to medium in size, reaching 8 to 18 m in height, with a crooked trunk and spreading branches. The branchlets are glabrous or finely pubescent, 10–20 cm long, usually deciduous; the leaves are simple, subsessile and closely set along branchlets, light green, resembling pinnate leaves. The flowers are greenish-yellow. The fruit is nearly spherical, light greenish yellow, quite smooth and hard on appearance, with six vertical stripes or furrows.

Ripening in autumn, the berries are harvested by hand after climbing to upper branches bearing the fruits. The taste of Indian gooseberry is sour, bitter and astringent, and it is quite fibrous. In India, it is common to eat gooseberries steeped in salt water and turmeric to make the sour fruits palatable. It is also used to straighten hair.

MEDICAL USES:

In traditional Indian medicine, dried and fresh fruits of the plant are used. All parts of the plant are used in various Ayurvedic/ Unani medicine (Jawarish amla) herbal preparations, including the fruit, seed, leaves, root, bark and flowers.[6] According to Ayurveda, aamla fruit is sour (amla) and astringent (kashaya) in taste (rasa), with sweet (madhura), bitter (tikta) and pungent (katu) secondary tastes (anurasas).[6] Its qualities (gunas) are light (laghu) and dry (ruksha), the postdigestive effect (vipaka) is sweet (madhura), and its energy (virya) is cooling (shita).[7]

According to Ayurveda, aamla balances all three doshas. While aamla is unusual in that it contains five out of the six tastes recognized by Ayurveda, it is most important to recognize the effects of the "virya", or potency, and "vipaka", or post-digestive effect. Considered in this light, aamla is particularly helpful in reducing pitta due to its cooling energy.[6] It also balances both Pitta and vata by virtue of its sweet taste. The kapha is balanced primarily due to its drying action. It may be used as a rasayana (rejuvenative) to promote longevity, and traditionally to enhance digestion (dipanapachana), treat constipation (anuloma), reduce fever (jvaraghna), purify the blood (raktaprasadana), reduce cough (kasahara), alleviate asthma (svasahara), strengthen the heart (hrdaya), benefit the eyes (chakshushya), stimulate hair growth (romasanjana), enliven the body (jivaniya), and enhance intellect (medhya).[6][7]

In Ayurvedic polyherbal formulations, Indian gooseberry is a common constituent, and most notably is the primary ingredient in an ancient herbal rasayana called Chyawanprash.[8] This formula, which contains 43 herbal ingredients as well as clarified butter, sesame oil, sugar cane juice, and honey, was first mentioned in the Charaka Samhita as a premier rejuvenative compound.[9][10]

Plant: Black berry

Generic Name: Rubus fructicosus

Useful Parts : Leaves, Roots

Active Constituent: Tannis

Properties: Astringent.

PLANT ANATOMY:

The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by many species in the Rubus genus in the Rosaceae family, hybrids among these species within the Rubus subgenus, and hybrids between the Rubus and Idaeobatus subgenera. What distinguishes the blackberry from its raspberry relatives is whether or not the torus (receptacle or stem) 'picks-with' (i.e. stays with) the fruit. When picking a blackberry fruit, the torus does stay with the fruit. With a raspberry, the torus remains on the plant, leaving a hollow core in the raspberry fruit. The term 'bramble', a word meaning any impenetrable scrub, has traditionally been applied specifically to the blackberry or its products,[11] though in the United States it applies to all members of the Rubus genus. In the western US, the term caneberry is used to refer to blackberries and raspberries as a group rather than the term bramble.

The usually black fruit is not a berry in the botanical sense of the word. Botanically it is termed an aggregate fruit, composed of small drupelets. It is a widespread and well-known group of over 375 species, many of which are closely related apomictic microspecies native throughout Europe, northwestern Africa, temperate western and central Asia and North and South America.[12] The flowers are produced in late spring and early summer on short racemes on the tips of the flowering laterals.[13] Each flower is about 2–3 cm in diameter with five white or pale pink petals

MEDICINAL USES:

Blackberries contain numerous phytochemicals including polyphenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins, salicylic acid, ellagic acid, and fiber. [14][15] Anthocyanins in blackberries are responsible for their rich dark color.

Blackberries contain salicylic acid [16] and ellagic acid which has been associated in preliminary research with toxicity to cancer cells,[17][18] including breast cancer cells.[19]

Blackberries rank highly among fruits for in vitro antioxidant strength, particularly because of their dense content of polyphenolic compounds, such as ellagic acid, tannins, ellagitannins, quercetin, gallic acid, anthocyanins, and cyanidins.[20][21] One report placed blackberry at the top of more than 1000 antioxidant foods consumed in the United States.[22] Blackberries contain numerous large seeds that are not always preferred by consumers. The seeds contain oil rich in omega-3 (alpha-linolenic acid) and -6 fats (linoleic acid) as well as protein, dietary fiber, carotenoids, ellagitannins and ellagic acid.[23]

Plant: Clove

Generic Name: Syzgium aromaticum

Useful parts: Flower bud

Active constituent: Volatile oils, Tannis.

Properties: Antiseptic analgesic.

PLANT ANATOMY:

Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, Syzygium aromaticum. They are native to the Maluku Islands in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice. Cloves are commercially harvested primarily in Indonesia, India, Madagascar, Zanzibar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka—and the largest producer, Pemba Island, just off the coast of Tanzania.

The clove tree is an evergreen that grows up to 8–12 m tall, with large leaves and sanguine flowers grouped in terminal clusters. The flower buds initially have a pale hue, gradually turn green, then transition to a bright red when ready for harvest. Cloves are harvested at 1.5–2.0 cm long, and consist of a long calyx that terminates in four spreading sepals, and four unopened petals that form a small central ball.

MEDICINAL USES:

Cloves are used in Indian Ayurvedic medicine, Chinese medicine, and western herbalism and dentistry where the essential oil is used as an anodyne (painkiller) for dental emergencies. Cloves are used as a carminative, to increase hydrochloric acid in the stomach and to improve peristalsis. Cloves are also said to be a natural anthelmintic.[24] The essential oil is used in aromatherapy when stimulation and warming are needed, especially for digestive problems. Topical application over the stomach or abdomen are said to warm the digestive tract. Applied to a cavity in a decayed tooth, it also relieves toothache.[25]

In Chinese medicine, cloves or Ding Xiang are considered acrid, warm, and aromatic, entering the kidney, spleen and stomach meridians, and are notable in their ability to warm the middle, direct stomach down ward, to treat high cough and to fortify the kidney yang.[9] Because the herb is so warming, it is contraindicated in any persons with fire symptoms and according to classical sources should not be used for anything except cold from yang deficiency. As such, it is used in formulas for impotence or clear vaginal discharge from yang deficiency, for morning sickness together with ginseng and patchouli, or for vomiting and diarrhea due to spleen and stomach coldness.[26]

Cloves may be used internally as a tea and topically as an oil for hypotonic muscles, including for multiple sclerosis. This is also found in Tibetan medicine. [27] Some recommend avoiding more than occasional use of cloves internally in the presence of pitta inflammation such as is found in acute flares of autoimmune diseases.

Plant: Daisy

Generic name: Matricaria chamomilla

Useful Part: Dried flower

Active Constituents: Volatile oils, bioflavonoids.

Properties: Anti-inflammatory.

PLANT ANATOMY:

Chamomile or camomile [28] is the common name for several daisy-like plants of the family Asteraceae[2] that are commonly used to make a herb infusion that can help to induce sleep. Because chamomile can cause uterine contractions that can cause miscarriage, the U.S. National Institutes of Health recommends that pregnant and nursing mothers not consume chamomile.[29] Persons who are allergic to ragweed (also in the daisy family) may also be allergic to chamomile, due to cross-reactivity. However, there is still some debate as to whether people with reported allergies to chamomile were truly exposed to chamomile, or to a plant of similar appearance.[30]

MEDICINAL USES:

Chamomile has been used for inflammation associated with hemorrhoids when topically applied.[31] There is Level B evidence to support the claim that chamomile possesses anxiolytic (anti-anxiety) properties and may have clinical applications in the treatment of stress and insomnia. Chemical components of chamomile extract have demonstrated anti-inflammatory, antihyperglycemic, antigenotoxic,[32] and anticancer properties when examined in vitro and in animal studies.

Plant: Peppermint

Generic name: Menta piperita

Useful parts: Leaves

Active Constituents: Volatile oil

Properties: Analgesic, counter irritant.

PLANT ANATOMY:

Peppermint was first described in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus from specimens that had been collected in England; he treated it as a species, but it is now universally agreed to be a hybrid.[33]

It is herbaceous rhizomatous perennial plant growing to 30–90 cm (12–35 in) tall, with smooth stems, square in cross section. The rhizomes are wide-spreading, fleshy, and bare fibrous roots. The leaves are from 4–9 cm (1.6–3.5 in) long and 1.5–4 cm (0.59–1.57 in) broad, dark green with reddish veins, and with an acute apex and coarsely toothed margins. The leaves and stems are usually slightly fuzzy. The flowers are purple, 6–8 mm (0.24–0.31 in) long, with a four-lobed corolla about 5 mm (0.20 in) diameter; they are produced in whorls (verticillasters) around the stem, forming thick, blunt spikes. Flowering is from mid to late summer. Peppermint is a fast growing plant once it sprouts, it spreads very quickly.

MEDICINAL USES:

Peppermint has a long tradition of medicinal use, with archaeological evidence placing its use at least as far back as ten thousand years ago.

Peppermint is commonly used to soothe or treat symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, indigestion, irritable bowel, and bloating.[34]

One animal study has suggested that Peppermint may have radioprotective effects in patients undergoing cancer treatment.

The aroma of peppermint has been found to enhance memory and alertness,[35] although other research contests this. Peppermint is used in aroma therapy.

According to the German Commission E, peppermint oil may also act as a carminative, cholagogue, antibacterial, and secretolytic, and it has a cooling action.

Plant: Tulsi

Generic Name : Ocimum sanctum

Useful parts : Leaves

Active Constituent : Ursolic acid, apigenin, luteolin

Properties : Anti inflammatory.

PLANT ANATOMY:

Ocimum tenuiflorum, also known as Ocimum sanctum, Holy basil, or tulasī, is an aromatic plant in the family Lamiaceae which is native to South Asia and widespread as a cultivated plant throughout the Eastern World tropics.[36] It is an erect, much branched subshrub, 30–60 cm tall with hairy stems and simple opposite green or purple leaves that are strongly scented. Leaves have petioles and are ovate, up to 5 cm long, usually slightly toothed. The flowers are purplish in elongate racemes in close whorls.[37] The two main morphotypes cultivated in India and Nepal are green-leaved (Sri or Lakshmi tulasi) and purple-leaved (Krishna tulasi).

Tulasi is cultivated for religious and medicinal purposes, and for its essential oil. It is widely known across South Asia as a medicinal plant and an herbal tea, commonly used in Ayurveda, and has an important role within the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism, in which devotees perform worship involving holy basil plants or leaves.

MEDICINAL USES:

Tulasi (Sanskrit:-Surasa) has been used for thousands of years in Ayurveda for its diverse healing properties. It is mentioned in the Charaka Samhita, an ancient Ayurvedic text. Tulsi is considered to be an adaptogen,[38] balancing different processes in the body, and helpful for adapting to stress.[39] Marked by its strong aroma and astringent taste, it is regarded in Ayurveda as a kind of "elixir of life" and believed to promote longevity.[40]

Tulasi extracts are used in ayurvedic remedies for a variety of ailments. Traditionally, tulasi is taken in many forms: as herbal tea, dried powder, fresh leaf or mixed with ghee. Essential oil extracted from Karpoora tulasi is mostly used for medicinal purposes and in herbal cosmetics, and is widely used in skin preparations and for fever, colds and infections.

CONCLUSION:

Healthy teeth are fundamental for the proper functioning of the human body. Proper and regular hygiene is required to prevent dental problems. In allopathy, the treatment of dental problems is expensive and cannot be afforded by poor people. So, these types of herbal medicines, which are almost free, are a great help. However these medicines are limited to rural areas and, so, it is necessary to carry out research into these medicines and make available to every part of the country. It was also observed that elderly people have more knowledge about these traditional herbal therapies than younger people. The main reason for this is the superstitious nature of local people. They do not reveal the methods used to prepare “magic” herbal medicines to anyone, even their family members, because they think that if they do, the effective medicinal qualities of the herbs will be lost. As a consequence, with the death of the elderly knowledgeable persons in these remote rural areas, this traditional knowledge could be lost forever.

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Received on 20.03.2014 Modified on 01.05.2014

Research J. Pharm. and Tech. 7(7): July 2014 Page 805-809