Red pepper can keep teeth clean, odourless — Survey

The use of herbs to keep teeth clean and make general mouth conditions hygienic is increasing in many communities in Nigeria, despite the usage of other dental care products. The reduction in the incidence of toothache and mouth odour has been associated with many herbs that protect teeth against tooth decay and opportunistic microorganisms in the mouth.

Now, in a survey, researchers documented many plants used by 100 herb practitioners and nursing mothers in three major markets in Ijebu-Ode local government area to keep teeth clean and free of odour. Top on the list of plants adopted for use are capsicum frutescens (red pepper), piper guineense (‘uziza’ pepper), fruits and roots of zanthoxylum zanthoxloides (fagara in English, ‘orin ata’ in Yoruba).

Others include bitter leaf twig, cashew back, olax subscorpioidea (‘ifon’ in Yoruba) root,  distemonathus benthamianus (satinwood) root, ‘ugwu’ leaf, tobacco leaf, ginger, alligator pepper fruit, ginger, alligator pepper, anogeissus leiocarpus root/stem, and neem twig.

Also, jatropha curcas (barbados nut) stem, cashew tree twig, prosopis Africana (iron tree), alstonia boonei (stool wood) stem, African basil stem, cassia occidentalis (coffee senna) root and stems of the cassia tree, bitter kola, and lime tree.

Some are used for bath, massage, or as a mouth-washing or chewing stick to keep teeth clean and free of odour.

The 2020 survey, according to the Nigerian Journal of Pure & Applied Sciences, involved Dr Anthony W. Ojewumi at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, in collaboration with Dr E.O. Oyebanji.

In the survey, the respondents were predominantly females (75.0%), mainly between 50 and 59 years, married (42.0%), with the primary school as their highest educational attainment. More than half (55.0%) of the respondents also claimed to have been in the sale of herbs used to treat toothache (76.0%) between 10 and 20 years.

A total of 23 plants belonging to 16 families were recorded, out of which C. frutescens, P. guineense and Z. zanthoxloides were the most exploited for the management of the ailments. Roots (42.0%), leaves (10.0%), fruits (36.0%), and stems (10.0%) are the distribution of the plant parts commonly used.

The herbal products are sourced mainly by foresters/farmers (59.0%) both in fresh and dry form (96.0%), prepared mainly by infusion and applied predominantly by mouth washing, followed by chewing (40.0%), majorly one week (91.0%). The herbal preparations used for the ailments are mainly single plant preparation (56.0%). Also, the preparations are often used in combination with non-plant materials such as salt (84.0%), hot water (7.0%), and alum.

A significant difference was observed in proximate contents of Z. zanthoxloides roots, C. frutescens and P. guineense fruits studied. Quantities of mineral elements in the three plants revealed that these were significantly higher in Z. zanthoxloides roots compared with C. frutescens and P. guineense fruits.

Across the three plants studied, vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C and vitamin E were significantly higher in C. frutescens fruits studied compared with Z. zanthoxloides and P. guineense.

The researchers also observed that the significant number of plants recorded being prescribed by the traditional health practitioners for the treatment of oral ailments may suggest improvement in the discovery of several herbs used for the treatment of oral health challenges of people in the study area.

They stated that the high adoption of the Z. zanthoxyloides root as chewing sticks, especially in the local communities could be ascribed to the appreciable amount of phytochemicals most especially saponins reported in the plant which can act as a cleansing agent.

They, however, called for concerted efforts towards research that can enhance better documentation of adequate records of the indigenous method of treating toothache, body odour and mouth odour.

Previously, researchers had revealed Z. zanthoxyloides root, nicotiana tabacum leaf powder, oxythenanthera abyssinica leaves, with little potash, together and water of fermented corn extract as an effective method of managing toothache.

In the same vein, researchers stated in the Nigerian Journal of Clinical Practice that ginger, natural honey, and dark chocolate may have some properties comparable to those of fluoridated toothpaste to protect teeth against tooth decay and opportunistic microorganisms in the mouth.

According to the researchers, each and together as a mixture promises to be an active ingredient that can be included in the toothpaste as an active agent for remineralisation, based on a study that measured the remineralisation potential of ginger, honey, bitter chocolate, and the mixture of these three agents to see if they could be used as alternative non-fluoride toothpaste on teeth in daily oral hygiene routine.

Among the non-fluoride agents, the ginger-honey-chocolate group was the group that showed the highest surface hardening. Also, natural honey was shown to remineralise the enamel surface as fluoride tubes of toothpaste under the conditions of this research.

Also, researchers in the journal, Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, suggest that the herbal mixtures of ginger, honey, dark chocolate, mango twig, aloe vera gel, and garlic as a safe and economical mouthwash for the prevention of holes in the tooth.

Although most of the extracts were less potent than chlorhexidine, a commercially available mouthwash, the plant extracts were relatively effective in inhibiting the growth of bacteria in the mouth under laboratory conditions.