Sodium bicarbonate: A review and its uses in dentistry

Denture stomatitis, periodontitis, and peri-implantitis are the growing problems in restorative dentistry. Chemicals play an important role as an adjuvant to mechanical cleaning of teeth, implants, surrounding tissues, and prostheses. Current mouth rinses are reported to affect the tissues and prostheses if used on a long-term basis. Sodium bicarbonate, the common baking soda, has been reported to be versatile. A search of the resources through Medline and Google Scholar was made to understand the current status of the mouth rinses and the use of sodium bicarbonate. Different MeSH and search criteria were used for the different search engines. Baking soda, being a common household item, with its ready availability, safety, minimal abrasivity, and bactericidal property makes it a patient-friendly mouthwash, component in the dentifrice, or chewing gum, which can be used on a long-term basis as an adjunct virtually free of any side effects.