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. This review identifies novel and current therapeutic protective agents in recent studies and provides some foundation to anticipate and prepare for future challenges and opportunities. The properties of each single antioxidant such as resveratrol, ferulic acid, tetrahydrocurcuminoids, and phloretin have been tested both in vitro and in vivo in order to elucidate their role and to understand their mechanism of action. Some of these single antioxidants when applied to cells possess anti-angiogenic, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and/or anti-tumor properties. It is possible that combined antioxidant supplements will provide greater protective effects against free-radical damage to human gingival and periodontal tissues than individual antioxidants. The increasing evidence from studies of combinations of antioxidants has raised hopes that these products can be useful in the treatment of dental pathoses.
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