Natural Products and Oral Health: Challenges and Opportunities

Dear Colleagues,

Oral diseases encompass a range of diseases and conditions that include periodontal (gum) disease, oral mucositis (OM), oral cancer, etc., which are among the most common noncommunicable diseases worldwide. The use of bioactive compounds extracted from natural sources with biological properties is an interesting approach to prevent/treat oral diseases and their related complications, such as OM.

Recently, attention has been paid to polyphenols and their positive effects against oral diseases in human trials, due to their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, or anti-proliferative activities.

Therefore, the use of bioactive compounds extracted from natural sources with biological properties may be an approach to prevent/treat oral diseases and, most importantly, discover new potential compounds. Importantly, targeting metabolic, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial pathways could provide disease-selective natural compounds.

However, the orally absorbed bioactive compound concentration is often low, avoiding an acceptable therapeutic effect. Other drawbacks regarding the pharmacokinetics (PK) profile or stability across the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) may occur. Encapsulation could be a strategy to prevent such problems and improve buccal delivery.

This Special Issue of IJMS invites research articles, reviews, and opinion reviews on fascinating advancements in the area of the efficacy of natural compounds for oral diseases and their related complications.

Dr. Francisca Rodrigues
Dr. Paulo Cardoso Da Costa
Guest Editors

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