The use of traditional herbal medicine in Pakistani dentistry and mechanistic overview of some phytochemicals against oral and dental disease categories

Abstract Due to the chronic nature and rapid development, oral and dental diseases remained major health concerns. In this regard, herbal medicines could be very vital in controlling such complications. Here, we provide a comprehensive data on plants used as alternate medicine against oral and dental diseases in Pakistan with an overview of reported mechanisms of action of some phytochemicals against these diseases. Data were searched across scientific databases including Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, SciELO and Science Direct with particular keywords. Overall, 234 plants from 177 genera of 77 plant families have been reported in Pakistan against oral and dental diseases. Acacia and Solanum with 6 species each, Rumex and Ficus with 4 species each, Artemisia , Ferula, Plantago and Tephrosia with 3 species each were maximally used against dental diseases. Herb remained the highly prevalent growth habit for 125 species (54%), following shrubs (56 species, 24%) and tree (50 species, 21%). A total of 16 different plant parts were used as medicine where leaves (97 species, 41.45%), roots (66 species, 28.20%) and stem (34 species, 14.52%) were highly used parts with 15 modes of remedies where decoction (77 species), raw form (69 species) and powder (60 species) were highly preferred modes. The plants were used against 15 oral and dental diseases maximally against toothache (189 species) and gum infections (39 species). Further, the review presented possible mechanisms of action of some phytochemicals against major oral and dental diseases. The data provides crucial information in curing oral and dental complications and further studies are recommended to clarify their safety and effectiveness.