Phytochemicals: Their Therapeutic Potential Against Dental Caries

Phytochemicals: Their Therapeutic Potential Against Dental Caries

Karthikeyan Ramalingam, Bennett T. Amaechi
Copyright: © 2019 |Pages: 38
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-6243-6.ch011
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Abstract

The chapter gives a picture of the current data on the available anticariogenic natural products and their mechanism of action. Different phytochemicals such as phenols, flavanoids, alkaloids, terpenoids, tannins, lectins, etc. and their anticariogenic efficacy have been discussed in detail. All the data emphasise the fact that the use of natural products is emerging as an effective strategy in the prevention and treatment of dental caries. Consequently, these natural products could be incorporated in toothpastes and other oral hygiene products to promote oral health.
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World Scenario

Around 250,000 to 500,000 species of plants have been reported on earth of which relatively a small percentage (1 to 10%) is used as food by humans and other animals Borris, 1996). It is possible that even more are used for medicinal purposes (Moerman, 1996). Natural products are being used to treat many diseases since time immemorial wing to their anti bacterial, anti inflammatory, cytostatic (Wu-Yuan et al., 1990), antifungal and anti viral activities. According to WHO, 80% of the population of developing countries exclusively use traditional medicine (Eloff, 1998; Nascimento et al., 2000).

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