Abstract

  Alternative medicine is a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices and products that are not considered part of conventional medicine. It includes the use of dietary supplements, megadose vitamins, herbal preparations, special teas, massage therapy, magnet therapy and spiritual healing. They have lesser side effects and are also cost effective as compared to traditional medicine. The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified 150 systems of alternative medicine, out of which the most practiced ones are Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Naturopathy, Unani, Magneto therapy, Aroma therapy, Yoga, Massage therapy, etc. The alternative medical systems involve Western culture (Homeopathy and Naturopathy) and Non-Western culture (Ayurveda and Chinese medicine). We know that stress is a major causative factor for various psychosomatic disorders and oral diseases which can be prevented by holistic approaches. Many oral mucosal lesions like aphthous stomatitis, lichen planus, OSMF, leukoplakia, radiation mucositis have yielded great results for healing by the use of plant extracts. Even though the treatments are usually of longer durations, are unconventional and often lack errors in reasoning, but have yielded positive effects on various individuals. This paper emphasizes on the use of alternative medicine in dentistry.

Keywords: Alternative Medicine; Holistic; Oral Mucosal Lesions; Ayurveda

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Citation

Citation: Sunbul Tabrez., et al. “Alternative Medicine in Dentistry: A Holistic Approach - A Review". Acta Scientific Dental Sciences 5.1 (2020): 71-76.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2021 Sunbul Tabrez., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.