Effect of Topical Honey on Mandibular Bone Defect Healing in Rats

In medicine, honey is known for its various biological or pharmacological effects, from wound dressing to anticancero-genic and from anti-inflammatory to antibacterial activities. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effect of honey on healing of mandibular bone defects in a rat model.

This animal study was performed on 24 wild-type Wistar rats. Following shaving, disinfection, and extraoral incision, a 2 × 2 mm defect was created at mandibular angle. In the experimental group, the defect was filled with sterile honey, while it was left unfilled in the control group. The rats were sacrificed after 2 and 4 weeks and defects were assessed histologically. The results were compared using Mann-Whitney U-test (α = 0.05).

After 2 weeks, five samples of the experimental group were in mineralization phase, while all samples of the control group were in the vascularization phase (p = 0.015). After 4 weeks, the defects were filled in four samples of the experimental group, while all samples of the control group were in the mineralization stage (p = 0.002). Histomorphometric assessment revealed that the mean new bone formation in the experimental group was significantly more than the control group, both after 2 and 4 weeks (p = 0.041).

The results showed that honey could accentuate bone healing of mandibular small defects in rats.

Honey might have potential in repair of human alveolar bone defects.