Inflammation is rampant today in our society, due largely to our standard American diet, stressful lifestyle, poor sleep habits, and lack of exercise. Inflammation results in the release of a cascade of cytokines that wreak havoc on nearly every cell, organ, and system in our bodies. As dental professionals we are confronted with the most common form of inflammation—periodontal disease. Often times, the additional burden of periodontal infection is the tipping point for our patients who are already systemically inflamed.
Inflammation is our body’s natural defense mechanism to a stressor and vital to our survival in times of acute crisis. The damage occurs when inflammation becomes chronic, as our bodies can no longer handle the onslaught of the inflammatory chemicals that are released during stress or injury.
As members of the dental community, it is not only important for us to understand the consequence of oral inflammation, but to help our patients manage it. Instructing our patients about inflammatory foods like sugar, high fructose corn syrup, highly processed foods and oils, and GMO foods (just to name a few) is our responsibility as health care providers. Unfortunately, most of our patients typically present with a history of regular NSAID usage. The long-term side effects of their use can be devastating to the gut, the kidneys, the brain, and even increase the risk of cardiovascular incidents. Because of these significant side effects, there is a greater interest in natural compounds, such as dietary supplement and herbal remedies, to reduce pain and inflammation.
Plant- and animal-derived nutraceutical preparations have been used for hundreds and even thousands of years to obtain effective pain relief and diminish inflammation. The following is a list of scientifically validated natural products of interest offering relief from pain, swelling and inflammation with fewer (if any) side effects than NSAIDs.
We have access to safe, inexpensive and effective alternatives to NSAIDs at our disposal. Our responsibility as our patients’ advocate is to inform them about frequently used, but potentially harmful, therapies including the use of NSAIDs. The dental team needs to embrace these natural alternatives as therapeutic strategies to help alleviate the inflammation epidemic.