Phytoendodontics: Novel Vista in Endodontics- A Review

Abstract

Herbs have been used as a traditional form of medicine since ancient times to cure various diseases due to their medicinal properties. These are safe, easily available, and economical. Herbal extracts derived from medicinal plants' roots, leaves, seeds, stems, and flowers, have been used as anti-inflammatory agents, antiseptics, antibacterial, antimicrobial, antifungal, antibiofilm, antivirals, and analgesics. The field of dentistry has also begun to use herbal extracts to relieve tooth pain, gum inflammation, canker sores, etc. In endodontics, plants and their extracts can be used as irrigants, intracanal medicaments, pulp capping agents, and storage media for avulsed teeth. These were explored to prevent the potential side effects caused by conventional chemical agents. This article provides insight into the phytotherapeutic agents that can provide clinicians a road map to use safer alternatives to chemical agents used in endodontics and a baseline to conduct further trials using similar or combination herbal irrigants in larger sample sizes with long-term follow-ups