Evaluation of Aloe vera as a Natural Pharmaceutic in Mouthwashes: A Narrative Review

Abstract

Context: Mouth rinses have been recognized as the main adjuvant or primary treatment to address many issues relating to dentistry. Previous studies have investigated the anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritic, anti-viral, antioxidant, anti-fungal, and anti-bacterial effects of Aloe vera. Recently, Aloe vera has been applied to treat several dental and oral conditions. Methods: Official web pages, such as Scopus, PubMed, and Microsoft were searched for collecting the required data using the keywords Aloe vera, Aloe vera mouthwash, Aloe vera mouth rinse, and dentistry. After checking the abstracts and titles, all relevant papers were retrieved for performing a full-text review. Results: Aloe vera was effective in reducing periodontal indices compared to chlorhexidine. It was also effective in treating oral diseases such as mucositis, postoperative pain, trismus, and dry socket incidence after the third molar extraction. Aloe vera decreased the number of colony-forming units during scaling and root planning (SRP). Conclusions: Aloe vera mouthwash was just as effective as other commercial mouthwashes in reducing the severity of radiation-induced mucositis, periodontal disease, the amount of S. mutans, the number of colony-forming units during SRP, and other situations which required a mouth rinse for the acceleration of treatment.