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Updated: May 10, 2026

Oral Health Assessment by Lay Personnel for Older Adults
Published on: February 2, 2020
Use of antioxidants in oral healthcare
Symone M San Miguel1, Lynne A Opperman, Edward P Allen
1Biomedical Sciences, Baylor College of Dentistry, Texas A and M Health Science Center, Baylor College of Dentistry, Dallas, Texas, USA.
Abstract:
There is increasing attention to the potential benefit from the use of antioxidants in the field of dental medicine. In general, antioxidants may be available through oral ingestion, diet or vitamin supplements, and in nutraceuticals. In addition, treatment of oral and dental health problems may include drug-free, natural antioxidant remedies that are available in topical oral applications such as mouth rinse, gel, paste, gum, or lozenge compositions. These topical antioxidant remedies help reduce free-radical or reactive-oxygen species, which are causative inflammatory factors in the progression of gingival and periodontal maladies. This review focuses on relationships between antioxidants and free-radical/reactive-oxygen species in the oral environment.
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