A systematic review on the effectiveness of Zingiber officinale in reducing dental caries

Abstract

According to the Global Burden of Disease Study and the World Health Organization, dental caries is one of the most prevalent oral diseases globally. It is well known that dental caries are associated with cariogenic bacteria and their biofilm. Many preventive strategies and therapeutic compounds have been proposed for decades. Among them, various plant-based phytochemical compounds have been investigated against cariogenic bacteria. In this review, we plan to show the effectiveness of Zingiber officinale to reduce dental caries. Z. officinale in ginger is a bioactive spice compound that shows antimicrobial activity. Therefore, it is reasonable to consider the antimicrobials and biofilm inhibition properties of bioactive Z. officinale to rationalize its potential in reducing dental caries. While the literature highlights the general antimicrobial properties of Z. officinale, this review focuses on Z. officinale’s capability against cariogenic microbes and their biofilms. Reported results of minimum inhibition concentration (MIC), minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), and biofilm inhibition (glucans and adhesion) were systematically reviewed. Common search engines like PubMed, Science Direct, and the Web of Science database are used to retrieve data using the keywords “Zingiber officinale” and “dental caries”. Out of 122 resulting reports, 11 of them were included in this review. It can be concluded that Z. officinale effect against cariogenic bacteria varies depending on microbial and analytical factors. However, translational advanced studies have not yet been conducted to verify its clinical application.

Keywords

Zingiber officinale / Traditional medicine / Dental caries / Cariogenic organisms / Antibacterial

References

[1] Qin X, Zi H, Zeng X. Changes in the global burden of untreated dental caries from 1990 to 2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease study. Heliyon. 2022;8(9):e10714.

[2] Global Oral Health Status Report: Towards Universal Health Coverage for Oral Health by 2030. World Health Organization;2022. Available in https://www.who.int/publicati ons/i/item/9789240061484, 02 Aug. 24.

[3] Selwitz RH, Ismail AI, Pitts NB. Dental caries. Lancet (North Am Ed). 2007;369(9555):51–59.

[4] Kim D, Barraza JP, Arthur RA, et al. Spatial mapping of polymicrobial communities reveals a precise biogeography associated with human dental caries. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2020;117(22):12375.

[5] Warreth A. Dental caries and its management. Int J Dent. 2023;2023:9365845.

[6] Karia R, Kelleher MG. Bizarre tooth surface loss and the Miswak stick. Dent Update. 2014;41(4):355–356.

[7] Featherstone JD. Prevention and reversal of dental caries: role of low-level fluoride. Commun Dent Oral Epidemiol. 1999;27(1):31–40.

[8] Ribeiro DA, Bazo AP, da Silva Franchi CA, Marques ME, Salvadori DM. Chlorhexidine induces DNA damage in rat peripheral leukocytes and oral mucosal cells. J Periodontal Res. 2004;39(5):358–361.

[9] Ahmadi-Motamayel F, Hendi SS, Alikhani MY, Khamverdi Z. Antibacterial activity of honey on cariogenic bacteria. J Dent. 2013;10(1):10–15.

[10] Shrestha L, Fan HM, Tao HR, Huang JD. Recent strategies to combat biofilms using antimicrobial agents and therapeutic approaches. Pathogens. 2022;11(3):292.

[11] Shaalan O, El-Rashidy A. Antibacterial effect of miswak herbal toothpaste compared to fluoride toothpaste in high caries risk patients: randomized clinical trial. J Clin Exp Dent. 2023;15(7):e526–e534.

[12] Palombo EA. Traditional medicinal plant extracts and natural products with activity against oral bacteria: potential application in the prevention and treatment of oral diseases. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2011;2011:680354.

[13] Shahrajabian MH, Sun W, Cheng Q. Pharmacological uses and health benefits of ginger (Zingiber officinale) in traditional asian and ancient Chinese medicine, and modern practice. Nat Sci Biol. 2019;11(3):309–319.

[14] Wardani RS, Schellack N, Govender T, et al. Treatment of the common cold with herbs used in Ayurveda and Jamu: monograph review and the science of ginger, liquorice, turmeric and peppermint. Drugs Context. 2023;12:2–12.

[15] Zhang S, Kou X, Zhao H, Mak KK, Balijepalli MK, Pichika MR. Zingiber officinale var. rubrum: red ginger’s medicinal uses. Molecules. 2022;27(3):775.

[16] Rashmi K, Tiwari Ritu . Pharmacotherapeutic properties of ginger and its use in diseases of the oral cavity: a narrative review. J Adv Oral Res. 2016;7(2):1–6.

[17] Mao QQ, Xu XY, Cao SY, et al. Bioactive compounds and bioactivities of ginger (Zingiber officinale roscoe). Foods. 2019;8(6):185.

[18] Babaeekhou L, Ghane M. Antimicrobial activity of ginger on cariogenic bacteria: molecular networking and molecular docking analyses. J Biomol Struct Dyn. 2021;39(6):2164–2175.

[19] Rezende G, Arthur RA, Lamers ML, Hashizume LN. Structural organization of dental biofilm formed in situ in the presence of sucrose associated to maltodextrin. Braz Dent J. 2019;30(1):36–42.

[20] Patel RV, Thaker VT, Patel VK. Antimicrobial activity of ginger and honey on isolates of extracted carious teeth during orthodontic treatment. Asian Pac J Trop Biomed. 2011;1:S58–S61.

[21] Haghpanah P, Moghadamnia AA, Zarghami A, Motallebnejad M. Muco-bioadhesive containing ginger officinal extract in the management of recurrent aphthous stomatitis: a randomized clinical study. Caspian J Intern Med. 2015;6:3–8.

[22] Supreetha S, Mannur S, Simon SP. Antifungal activity of ginger extraction Candida albicans: an in-vitro study. J Dent Sci Res. 2011;2:1–5.

[23] Park M, Bae J, Lee DS. Antibacterial activity of gingerol and gingerol isolated from ginger rhizome against periodontal bacteria. Phytother Res. 2008;22:1446–1449.

[24] Caries Risk Assessment and Management, American Dental Association [Internet]. [cited 2023 Oct 28]; Available from: https://www.ada.org/en/resources/research/science-and-research-institute/oral-health-topics/caries-risk-assessment-and-management.

[25] Handayani H, Achmad H, Dewi Suci A, et al. Analysis of antibacterial effectiveness of red ginger extract (Zingiber Officinale Var Rubrum) compared to white ginger extract (Zingiber Officinale Var. Amarum) in mouth cavity bacterial streptococcus mutans (In-Vitro). J Int Dent Med Res. 2018;1(11):676–681.

[26] Jain I, Jain P, Bisht D, Sharma A, Srivastava B, Gupta N. Use of traditional Indian plants in the inhibition of caries-causing bacteria-Streptococcus mutans. Braz Dent J. 2015;26(2):110–115.

[27] Elgamily H, Safy R, Makharita R. Influence of medicinal plant extracts on the growth of oral pathogens Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus acidophilus: an In vitro study. Open Access Maced J Med Sci. 2019;7(14):2328–2334.

[28] Mathai K, Anand S, Aravind A, Dinatius P, Krishnan AV, Mathai M. Antimicrobial effect of ginger, garlic, honey, and lemon extracts on Streptococcus mutans. J Contemp Dent Pract. 2017;18(11):1004–1008.

[29] de Oliveira CI, Purgato GA, Píccolo MS, et al. In vitro anticariogenic and antibiofilm activities of toothpastes formulated with essential oils. Arch Oral Biol. 2020;117:104834.

[30] Teanpaisan R, Kawsud P, Pahumunto N, Puripattanavong J. Screening for antibacterial and antibiofilm activity in Thai medicinal plant extracts against oral microorganisms. J Tradit Complement Med. 2016;7(2):172–177.

[31] Choi O, Cho SK, Kim J, Park CG. In vitro antibacterial activity and major bioactive components of Cinnamomum verum essential oils against cariogenic bacteria, Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus. Asian Pac J Trop Biomed. 2016;6(4):308.–314.

[32] Philip N, Leishman S, Bandara H, Walsh L. Growth inhibitory effects of antimicrobial natural products against cariogenic and health-associated oral bacterial species. Oral Health Prev Dent. 2020;18(1):537–542.

[33] Mohammad I, Kumar A, Alam P, Khan MS. In vitro investigation of minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bacterial concentration from combined extract of Salvadora persica L. and Zingiber officinale Rosc. against Streptococcus mutans. Ann Phytomed. 2023;12(1):776–782.

[34] Hasan S, Danishuddin M, Khan AU. Inhibitory effect of Zingiber officinale towards Streptococcus mutans virulence and caries development: in vitro and in vivo studies. BMC Microbiol. 2015;15(1):1.

[35] Harun NH, Mohamad MF. Zingiber officinale (ginger): a systematic review and meta-analysis on antimicrobial activities. J App Pharm Sci. 2023;13(3):1–11.

[36] Bhattacharjee MK. Better visualization and photodocumentation of zone of inhibition by staining cells and background agar differently. J Antibiot (Tokyo). 2015;68(10):657–659.

[37] Lynch DJ, Michalek SM, Zhu M, Drake D, Qian F, Banas JA. Cariogenicity of Streptococcus mutans glucan-binding protein deletion mutants. Oral Health Dent Manag. 2013;12(4):191–199.

[38] Nizami MZI, Xu VW, Yin IX, Lung CYK, Niu JY, Chu CH. Ceramic nanomaterials in caries prevention: a narrative review. Nanomaterials. 2022;12(24):4416.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2024 The Authors. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co. Ltd.