Green Tea in the Prevention of Dental Caries A Systematic Review

ABSTRACT

To analyze the available scientific evidence on the effectiveness of green tea and its products in the prevention of dental caries. A broad literature search was performed using COCHRANECENTRAL, MEDLINE, GOOGLE SCHOLAR, EBSCO, PROQUEST for online search and hand search was performed in the central library of the institute. Articles that satisfied the inclusion criteria with description of randomized clinical trials regarding green tea in the prevention of dental caries were included. Initial search resulted in 196 articles; Our final review included 5 studies. Of these 2 studies evaluated both streptococcus mutans and lactobacillus, 1 study evaluated streptococcus mutans separately, 1 study evaluated salivary fluoride concentration, 1 study evaluated caries increment of the green tea polyphenol. Among the five studies two studies showed a significant reduction in the levels of streptococcus mutans. One study showed significant reduction in the levels of lactobacillus. One study showed that there was significant increase in the fluoride level. One study showed that the green tea and its extracts has an inhibitory effect on dental caries. With the constraints of limited available literature green tea and its extracts had a inhibitory effect on dental caries. But still further studies are recommended.