Herbs and plants dominate home remedies for dental care issues
88% of patients resorted to home remedies for the treatment of oral health issues
With dental practices closing or reducing patient intake owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, more people might turn to home remedies for various oral health issues.
This trend seems to be very likely as 88% of people have already resorted to home cures for the treatment of dental problems.
The results were revealed in a recent DentaVox survey, conducted among 947 people globally between October last year and April.
The most popular panacea for dental issues is herbs and plants.
While half of the respondents classified the treatment as effective, 45% admit they still had to see a dentist for the same problem.
The majority of respondents in the survey have had some experience with at least one type of dental home remedy.
Herbs and medicinal plants are the most popular cure for 64% of people, while household chemicals (e.g. soda bicarbonate, hydrogen peroxide) are the least used.
Effectiveness and side effects of home treatment
Almost half of respondents try out home therapies on the same day or even immediately after the first oral health symptoms occur.
About 52% found this type of treatment effective. However, despite their satisfaction, in most cases, 45% of respondents eventually seek professional dental help for the same issue, and just 20% never or very rarely end up at the dentist’s office after using home remedies.
Conditions that best responded to home remedies
According to 54% of survey participants, therapy with herbs and plants was most successful in cases of bad breath.
Similarly, 30% of survey participants who used alcohol as a remedy report best results with regards to toothache.
It is not surprising considering that alcohol has been used since ancient times to relieve pain.
Whether effective or not as a short-term emergency solution, dentists remind that alcohol doesn’t clear up infection and therefore cannot be used as treatment.
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