Aram Soliman Alnoury
Department of Biological Sciences, King Abdulaziz University Dental Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Saudi ArabiaPublications
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Review Article
Are herbal remedies safe for your teeth? A dentist's perspective for Saudi patients
Author(s): Maha Mohammed Bmahisoun*, Reem Akram Zuhairy, Raghdah Emad Abdrabuh, Wala Osama Dhafar, Alaa Abdullah Basudan, Aram Soliman Alnoury and Adel Nedal Radwan
Herbal agents such as miswak (Salvadora persica), clove (Syzygium aromaticum) and neem (Azadirachta indica) are the key pillars of oral health in Saudi Arabia, with strong Islamic roots, and can be found readily in the souks such as the Souq Al-Zal in Riyadh and the Al-Balad in Jeddah. The current study evaluates their safety and efficacy in Saudi dental patients and evaluates the study outcome, which involved 350 patients and 70 dentists in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam, as well as the review of 65 studies. Miswak also decreased plaque by 33 percent in 150 patients as compared to tooth brushing (27%). Toxicity rate was 13 percent with clove, which relieved toothache in 89 out of 120 with a 13 percent cytotoxicity rate, resulting in mild burning. Neem reduced bacterial count by 28% in 90 patients, 7 percent of whom developed allergic reactions to it such as itching. A survey of Saudi pat.. Read More»