Assessment of Toothpaste Formulations Containing Turmeric and Neem Extract for Prevention of Dental Caries and Periodontal Diseases

Clinical Effect of Thioglycosides Extracted from White Mustard on Dental Plaque and Gingivitis: Randomized, Single-Blinded Clinical Trial

The antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effect of thioglycosides has already been established. This study investigates the effects of thioglycosides extracted from white mustard, specifically the "Bamberka" variety, in the context of oral hygiene. The aim of the study is to clarify an evidence-based link between the documented antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects attributed to thioglycosides and their practical application in oral care. A randomized, single-blinded (patient-blinded) clinical study was performed on 66 patients using mustard-based toothpaste for oral hygiene. The patients were examined at baseline and after 6 and 12 months. The values of the Approximal Plaque Index (API), the Plaque Index (PI), and Bleeding on probing (BOP) were taken into consideration. The results show a significant reduction in plaque accumulation, especially after 6 months of using mustard-based toothpaste in all examined parameters. This suggests that thioglycosides from mustard contribute to a considerable decrease in dental plaque accumulation, confirming their potential in natural oral care solutions, which is indicated in the main conclusions or interpretations.

From Simple Mouth Cavities to Complex Oral Mucosal Disorders-Curcuminoids as a Promising Therapeutic Approach

Oral diseases are among the most common encountered health issues worldwide, which are usually associated with anomalies of the oral cavity, jaws, and salivary glands. Despite the availability of numerous treatment modalities for oral disorders, a limited clinical response has been observed because of the inefficacy of the drugs and countless adverse side effects. Therefore, the development of safe, efficacious, and wide-spectrum therapeutics is imperative in the battle against oral diseases. Curcumin, extracted from the golden spice turmeric, is a well-known natural polyphenol that has been extensively studied for its broad pleiotropic attributes and its ability to modulate multiple biological processes. It is well-documented to target pro-inflammatory mediators like NF-κB, ROS, COX-2, IL-1, IL-2, TGF-β, growth factors, apoptotic proteins, receptors, and various kinases. These properties make curcumin a promising nutraceutical in the treatment of many oral diseases like oral submucous fibrosis, oral mucositis, oral leukoplakia, oral erythroplakia, oral candidiasis, aphthous stomatitis, oral lichen planus, dental caries, periodontitis, and gingivitis. Numerous in vitro and in vivo studies have shown that curcumin alleviates the symptoms of most of the oral complications, including the inhibition of the progression of oral cancer. In this regard, many clinical trials have been completed, and many are ongoing to investigate the "curcumin effect" in oral maladies. Therefore, the current review delineates the mechanistic framework of curcumin's propensity in curbing oral diseases and present outcomes of the clinical trials of curcumin-based therapeutics that can provide a breakthrough in the clinical management of these diseases.

Anti-Candida Activity of Curcumin: A Systematic Review

Curcumin is one of the important natural compounds that is extracted from turmeric. This compound and its derivatives have numerous biological properties, including antioxidant, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and healing effects. Extensive research in various fields has been conducted on turmeric as it is widely used as a food additive. The significant antifungal activity is one of the major effects of curcumin. In this paper, recent studies on the effects of different forms of curcumin drug on the candidiasis were systematically examined and discussed. The data in this study were extracted from the articles and reports published in the Web of Science, Google Scholar, PubMed, and Scopus databases. After the preliminary investigation, relevant reports were selected and classified based on the incorporated formulation and purpose of the study. After a systematic discussion of the data, it was found that the use of medicinal forms based on nanoparticles can increase the absorption and target the controlled release of curcumin with a more effective role compared to other formulations. Consequently, it can be concluded that new methods of modern medicine can be employed to increase the efficacy of natural pharmaceutical compounds used in the past. In this regard, the present study analyzed the effect of curcumin against various Candida infections, using the recent data. It was found that applying a combination of drug formulation or the formulation of curcumin and its derivatives can be an effective strategy to overcome the medicine resistance in fungal infections, especially candidiasis.