Oral hygiene is the best tool we have to fight against bacterial plaque and any other condition that may affect the mouth. Daily care using a brush, dental floss or interdental brushes usually provides enough cleaning to maintain a healthy mouth, although in certain cases we must resort to other tools such as mouthwashes. Can we also use natural products?
These mouthwashes generally have a chemical composition with antibacterial properties, such as fluoride, triclosan, stannous fluoride, cetylpyridinium chloride or chlorhexidine, all of them with possible side effects, such as taste alterations or dental stains. Today at Clínica Bajo we want to analyze whether the use of alternative natural products could be a possibility.
The use of natural products for oral hygiene
First of all, it should be said that a natural product is considered to be anything derived from plants or of mineral origin. Although they are traditionally used in many cultures or even, to a lesser extent, in our own society, it is only recently that science is studying their scientific evidence. It has been proven that the population that regularly includes some products, with certain phytochemicals, in their diet, have better oral health.
We are referring, for example, to polyphenols, including catechins from green tea or proanthocyanins from red and black fruits. These substances have antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, which directly affects the health of our mouth.
The truth is that although there is beginning to be scientific evidence, at the moment there are few studies on the subject, so at the moment we cannot indicate natural products as tools as efficient as the chemical ones you know today and we usually apply in certain cases.
At Clínica Bajo we closely follow all the new scientific evidence that helps us to apply effective and non-evasive treatments. It is very likely that we will have more and more natural options at our fingertips, but oral health should never be compromised.
