Oral health influences general well-being and quality of life. Oral diseases can be debilitating and are a major heath concern worldwide. Medicinal plants have been used for thousands of years for treating human diseases. Considering the emergence of multi-drug resistant pathogens and financial difficulties in developing countries, there is an urgent need for developing new antimicrobial compounds which are safe, efficient and cost effective. Liquorice also known as yashtimadhu, sweetwood or mulhatti is one such herbal remedy which has shown to have immense potential in treatment of orofacial diseases. Liquorice is rich in secondary metabolites which are used in cosmetics, foods, traditional and modern medicine. It has well known properties such as antiviral, glucocorticoid, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-ulcerative, anti-carcinogenic and many more. Liquorice extracts and liquorice bioactive ingredients such as glabridin, licoricidin, licorisoflavan A, licochalcone A, and glycyrrhizin have shown beneficial effects in preventing and treating oral diseases. This paper reviews the effects of liquorice and its constituents on oral diseases such as dental caries, periodontitis, gingivitis, candidiasis, recurrent aphthous ulcer and oral cancer and its use as a root canal medicament and summarizes the results of clinical trials that investigated the potential beneficial effects of liquorice and its constituents as a prevention and treatment modality in oral diseases. Clinical trials, case reports and review of literature evaluating the effect of liquorice on oral microorganisms and oral diseases are included. Literature pertaining to the effects of liquorice on systemic diseases have been excluded from this review of literature.
Introduction: Oral tori and exostosis are non-pathological bony protuberances seen on the alveolar surfaces of the jaw bones. These are commonly seen on the palatal surfaces of the maxilla [torus palatinus (TP)] and around the premolars in the lingual surface of the mandible [torus mandibularis (TM)]. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to determine the prevalence of tori/exostosis in the Malaysian population.
Methodology: A total of 2666 patients were examined for the presence of tori and exostosis in the maxilla and mandible and were categorized into TP, TM, and exostosis (facial/labial). Collected data was analysed for obtaining descriptive statistics.
Results: 882 subjects were noticed with oral tori/exostosis among the population studied with a prevalence rate of 33%. TP was seen more in females (35%), compared to males (20%), and this difference was statistically significant (p value