Gingivitis from the Viewpoint of Traditional Persian Medicine

BACKGROUND: Gingivitis is among the top general health problems in the world, especially in developing countries. Meanwhile, it may be associated with pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases. In a qualitative study, we tried to identify the corresponding terminology to gingivitis in traditional Persian medicine (TPM) and to explain its potential mechanisms, treatments, and prevention characteristics. METHODS: In a literature review, 4 modern textbooks and 18 related articles, 2 traditional medical dictionaries and 12 traditional medical and 4 traditional pharmaceutical texts were assessed by a specific method. Initially, traditional scripts were searched for signs and symptoms of gingivitis as well as related keywords such as bleeding, swollen and loosen gum, oral or gingival ulcers, teeth, or gingival pain. Then the disease/s or disorder/s, which matched gingivitis in TPM, was appraised in details. Finally, potential mechanisms, prevention and therapeutic protocols presented by TPM were collated and summarized. RESULTS: "Lasse-e-Dâmiyeh" (bleeding gum) or "Khoon-Reezi az Goosht-e Bon-e Dandân" (bleeding from under teeth flesh) was the main disease comparable to gingivitis. Based on TPM, the leading etiologies are insufficient gum feeding mechanism, pouring and gathering of excessive fluid in the gum and accumulation of excessive blood in it or in the whole body. Although there were remarkable similarities in the subjects of different TPM texts over the centuries, particularly in oral and teeth hygiene and overall approach to gingivitis, we faced notable differences in recipes (herbal drugs) that each text proposed. CONCLUSION: While there are overlapping terminologies to gingivitis in TPM, "Lasse-e-Dâmiyeh" is the closest disease that relates to it. Meanwhile, adjusting diet and lifestyle, having appropriate oral hygiene, obtaining a vast variety of herbal medications, cupping, phlebotomy, leech therapy, etc. are the different TPM modalities for the prevention and treatment of gingivitis that can be considered as therapeutic and/or research issues.

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This review identifies 'Lasse-e-Dâmiyeh' (bleeding gum) as the traditional Persian medicine counterpart of gingivitis, attributing it to impaired gum nutrition and accumulation of excessive fluid or blood, and catalogues traditional treatments, which varied across texts.

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