~ 18 ~ Journal of Medicinal Plants Studies 2016; 4(2): 18-23 ISSN 2320-3862 JMPS 2016; 4(2): 18-23 © 2016 JMPS Received: 17-01-2016 Accepted: 18-02-2016 Nor Amiyah binti Bismelah Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UITM) Sg. Buloh Campus, Jalan Hospital, 47000 Sungai Buloh, Selangor, Malaysia Dr. Zethy Hanum Mohamed Kassim Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UITM) Sg. Buloh Campus, Jalan Hospital, 47000 Sungai Buloh, Selangor, Malaysia Assoc. Professor Dr. Rohana Ahmad 1. Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UITM) Sg. Buloh Campus, Jalan Hospital, 47000 Sungai Buloh, Selangor, Malaysia 2.Integrative Pharmacogenomics Institute (iPromise), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UITM), Puncak Alam Campus, 42300 Bandar Puncak Alam, Selangor, Malaysia Assoc. Professor Dr. Nor Hadiani Ismail Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UITM) 40450, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia/ Atta-ur- Rahman Institute for Natural Product Discovery (AuRins) Universiti Teknologi MARA (UITM), Puncak Alam Campus, 43600 Bandar Puncak Alam, Selangor. Malaysia Correspondence Nor Amiyah binti Bismelah Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UITM) Sg. Buloh Campus, Jalan Hospital, 47000 Sungai Buloh, Selangor, Malaysia Herbs in dentistry Nor Amiyah binti Bismelah, Dr. Zethy Hanum Mohamed Kassim, Assoc. Professor Dr. Rohana Ahmad, Assoc. Professor Dr. Nor Hadiani Ismail Abstract Rising cost of drugs, emerging antibiotic resistance and perceived safety of herbal medicine has led to its popularity among consumers, medical practitioners and researchers alike. The increase in awareness had lead to studies being conducted addressing its properties, mode of action, efficacy and toxicity of herbs in hopes of improving the safety and efficacy of herb derived alternative medicine. Plants are widely used as antibacterial agents because they produce a wide array of bioactive components, most of which probably function as chemical defense against predation or infection and have attracted researchers to exploit these bioactive components for application in the dentistry field. Despite its effectiveness in treating a diseases with a less side effects in comparison with the traditional medicines, side- effects do occur. This article will discuss some of herbs used in dentistry, which will covers its application, research findings, toxicology profiles and side effects. The plants include Miswak (Salvadora persica), Bloodroot plant (Sanguinarine), Licorice root (Glycyrrhiza root), Chicory (Cichorium Intybus Linn), Neem (Azadirachta indica), Garlic (Allium sativum), Betel (Piper betel), Clove (Syzygium aromaticum), and Triphala (T. chebula). Keywords: Salvadora persica, Sanguinarine, Glycyrrhiza root, Cichorium Intybus Linn, Azadirachta indica, Allium sativum, Piper betel, Syzygium aromaticum, T. chebula. Introduction Herbal products have been used since ancient times by traditional healers in folk medicine. The late 20 th century saw the gain in popularity of herbal-based product among consumers due to the perceived safety with reduced side effects and the rising cost of conventional medicine. The growing use of herbal products stimulated research and development dedicated to herbal medicine. In the field of medicine, many plants have established their importance in treating illness all around the world. Herbs have been widely studied because of their chemical constituents or phytochemicals presents in various parts of the plants. Although originally they are produced as part of plant’s protective and preventive mechanisms, it is now scientifically proven that these chemical constituents can be used to protect humans against human diseases. Plant herbs are highly effective as antibacterial agents because of their ability to penetrate and cause damage to the walls of both gram positive and gram negative bacteria. This finally, will lead to the destruction of the bacteria cells (Seyyednejad et al., 2010) [52] . In the field of dentistry, many research focus on the use of herbs to treat chronic diseases such as dental caries, gingivitis and periodontal diseases. The specialty requires more information through well-conducted research in order to establish the safe practice of incorporating herbal derived products as part of an evidenced based treatment of patients. This paper will review some herbaceous plants which have been studied to treat these oral diseases. Salvadora persica The Salvadora persica tree or also known as Darakht-e-Miswak or toothbrush tree in Persian is an evergreen shrub that belongs to the Salvadoraceae family. The plant is also commonly known as Miswak tree. Their importance in dentistry has been well established way back from 5,000 BC. The twigs from this plant were originally used by the Babylonians as a chewing sticks and the trend rapidly travelled throughout the Greek and Roman empires. Other nations followed suit and the use of these chewing spread widely among the Egyptians, Jews, and the Muslim worlds. In fact the practice of brushing with Miswak may still be seen right to this very day (Lewis et al., 1977) [33] . The plant contains many chemical components of medical importance. Among such components are sodium chloride, calcium oxalate, silica, fluoride, sulfated compounds,