ABSTRACT
Background: Chewing sticks were used throughout the ancient times many communities till date. Many people in today’s modern days still have maintained this practice of oral hygiene due to reasons like cost, customs and religious reasons and accessibility. The miswak, obtained from the twigs of the Salvadora persica tree, may be beneficial due to its mechanical cleaning. The aim of the present study was to compare the oral hygiene status and gingival conditions following the use of conventional tooth brushing and miswak over a period 100 days. Materials and methods: The study was conducted in a madrasa in outskirts of Jammu and Kashmir. Out of the total 154 subjects, a total of 148 subjects who were voluntarily willing to participate in the study were selected. Out of these subjects 72 subjects were using miswak (Group I), 76 subjects were using tooth brush and tooth paste (Group II) as an oral hygiene aid. All of these subjects were evaluated for Gingival and Plaque status on 50th and 100th day following oral prophylaxis. Results: Both Group I showed a significant difference (p≤0.05), at 50th and 100th day in their mean plaque scores. The mean gingival scores recorded for subjects using only miswak and those subjects using both miswak as well as tooth brush and tooth paste increased from 50th day to 100th day and showed a statistical difference between the two means in group I. Conclusion: The results of the present study suggest that miswak can be used as an effective adjunct for oral hygiene maintenance along with toothbrush and tooth paste as it is readily available and inexpensive.
ABSTRACT
Background: Chewing sticks were used throughout the Greek and Roman empires and by many communities till date. Many people do not use modern oral hygiene aids such as toothbrushes due to reasons like cost, customs and religious reasons and accessibility. The miswak, obtained from the twigs of the Salvadora persica tree, may be beneficial due to its mechanical cleaning. The aim of the present study was to assess and compare the oral hygiene status and gingival conditions following the use of conventional tooth brushing and miswak in socially disadvantaged subjects over a period 100 days. Methods: The study was conducted in an orphanage in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. Out of the total 354 subjects, 180 subjects who were within this selected age group were followed and examined After acquiring the permission and the information to the subjects a total of 148 subjects, were voluntarily willing to participate in the study. Out of these subjects 72 subjects were using miswak (Group I), 46 subjects were using tooth brush and tooth paste (Group II) while 30 subjects (Group III) accepted that they were using both miswak as well as tooth paste and tooth brush as an oral hygiene aid. All of these subjects were evaluated for Gingival and Plaque status on 50th and 100th day following oral prophylaxis. The Mean, Standard Deviation, One way ANOVA test and Scheffe test were performed to reveal the statistical significance. Results: Both Group II and Group III showed a significant difference (p≤0.05), at 50th and 100th day in their mean plaque scores. The mean gingival scores recorded for subjects using only miswak and those subjects using both miswak as well as tooth brush and tooth paste increased from 50th day to 100th day and showed a statistical difference between the two means. Conclusion: The results of the present study suggest that miswak can be used as an effective adjunct for oral hygiene maintenance along with toothbrush and tooth paste as it is readily available and inexpensive.
ABSTRACT
Background and Aim: The use of chewing sticks has been well documented since ancient times in India. Chewing sticks are a good alternative to the toothbrush for maintaining oral hygiene. The present study was designed and conducted to compare and evaluate the antimicrobial effects of the aqueous extracts of neem, miswak, mango, and banyan chewing sticks against two bacterial species considered the most important in the initiation and progression of dental caries, namely Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus acidophilus, respectively. Materials and Methods: Twigs of the above mentioned chewing sticks were sun dried and powdered, and sterile aqueous solutions of 10%, 25% and 50% concentrations were prepared. Culture plates for S mutans and L acidophilus were prepared and the growth was transferred to nutrient agar and Mueller-Hinton agar; antimicrobial activity of the extracts was tested after 72 h, using the disc diffusion method. Normal saline was used as control. Results: The antimicrobial activity of neem, miswak, and mango extracts increased as their concentrations increased. Both banyan extract and saline showed no antimicrobial activity against the organisms tested. Conclusion and Recommendations: Based on the zones of inhibition, aqueous extracts of neem showed the most antimicrobial activity against S mutans, while miswak extracts showed superior antimicrobial activity against L acidophilus. We recommend further phytochemical and pharmacological studies to discover newer nonsynthetic tooth pastes and mouthwashes.
ABSTRACT
Meticulous plaque control on a daily routine basis is the single most important step to achieve good oral health. Herbal chewing sticks, commonly known as Miswak, are among the ancient and traditional oral hygiene aids popular in India, Pakistan, most of the Arabian countries, and several African countries. But nowadays, because of low cost, free availability, unique chemical composition, and spiritual beliefs, miswak is being used worldwide. A large number of studies have proved that miswak is as effective as, or even superior to the present day’s most common oral hygiene aid, i.e., toothbrush. The aim of this review article is to discuss various pharmacological and therapeutic aspects of miswak and also to compare the effectiveness of miswak with modern toothbrushes in terms of oral hygiene practice.
ABSTRACT
This study was conducted to determine the proportion and factors associated with periodontal disease among younger adult attended Al Fatah Dental Faculty in Libya. A cross sectional study with universal sampling methods was carried out from July 2010 until September 2010 among 70 Libyan subjects aged between 20-35 years. The data in this study was collected using self administrated questionnaire, followed by oral examination done by trained dentists. The results of this study showed that, the prevalence of periodontal disease in Libyan subjects was 75.7%. Gender, oral care habits, smoking were found significantly associated with presence of periodontal disease. Gingivitis has been found the most common types of periodontal disease (94%). High percentage of periodontal disease in this study was among men (87.9%) compared to women (69.9%). In conclusion, modifiable factors like changing lifestyle such as avoiding smoking and practicing oral care can be promoted to prevent periodontitis
ABSTRACT
Background and Aims: The effectiveness of an ideal antimicrobial agent depends on its ability to kill microbes while causing minimal toxicity to host cells. Several studies have been reported on the antimicrobial effects of chewing sticks (Salvadora persica) on oral bacteria. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the cytotoxic effects of Persica™ and chlorhexidine (CHX) mouthwashes on cultured human and mouse cell lines. Materials and Methods: This was an experimental study. The toxic effects of four dilutions of Persica™ and CHX mouthwashes on KB, Saos-2, J744 A1, and gingival fibroblast cells were evaluated by MTT [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide] assay. The effect of fetal calf serum (FCS) components on the cytotoxicity of these mouthwashes was also investigated. Statistical Analysis: Analysis of variance and the Kruskal-Wallis test were used to evaluate the results. Results: The results indicated that Persica™, at concentrations higher than 0.1%, exerted a very significant cytotoxic effect on all the cell lines (P < 0.01). CHX, at a concentration of 0.001%, exerted toxic effects only on gingival fibroblasts; concentrations higher than 0.001% were required to produce significant cell death in the other cell lines. At all the concentrations under study, both Persica™ and CHX exerted significantly greater cytotoxic effects in the absence of FCS than in its presence (i.e., in control culture medium). The toxicities of both mouthwashes were attenuated in the presence of FCS (10%). Conclusion: Our results indicate that both Persica™ and CHX mouthwashes are toxic to macrophage, epithelial, fibroblast, and osteoblast cells in a concentration-dependent manner.