Effectiveness of Honey and Aloe Vera on the Post Extraction Healing Among Young Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial

INTRODUCTION: "Dry socket" was first described by Crawford in literature in 1896. When people are recognizing that current medicine is not the soul cure for diseases, we look back to the past for potential remedies with the least possible side-effectiveness. So the objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of honey and aloevera on healing of post extraction wounds. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Honey and aloe-vera were prepared by mixing with sterilized cotton. The socket involved was separated by dry autoclaved cotton rolls from the rest of the oral cavity, then honey/aloe-vera was inserted into the respective groups. All patients were advised to avoid solid and liquid diets for 30 minutes after the treatment. Dressings were changed on 3rd day and on 7th day and sockets were evaluated. RESULTS: When the intra-group comparison of honey (p-value=0.003) and aloe-vera (p-value=0.000) was done, both were found to be statistically significant in the healing of dry socket. When the inter-group comparison was done between honey and aloe-vera, Aloe-vera had high healing capacity and was found to be highly statistically significant (p-value=0.001). DISCUSSION: When the intra-group comparison of honey and aloe-vera was done, both were found to be statistically significant in the reduction of dry socket. When the inter-group comparison was done between honey and aloe-vera, Aloe-vera had high healing capacity and was found to be highly statistically significant (p-value=0.00). CONCLUSION: From the analysis, it can be inferred that aloe vera and honey are healthy, natural and user-friendly substitute adjuncts that might be feasible to promote healing of extraction sockets.