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There are about 3,50,000 plants on planet earth out of which around 50,000 to 80,000 have medicinal value. Many medicinal plants are on the verge of extinction. Though medicinal plants have long history associated with human evolution, in recent times importance of these plants has been over-shadowed by modern allopathic pharmacological products. The improper and over prescription of antibiotics have led to serious issues like antibiotic resistance and multidrug resistance of microorganisms. This has led to new debate in the scholarly world: “Will reintroduction of traditional medicine help to combat war with resistant pathogens?” However as there is lack of evidence, their day to day use in modern medical practice is not common. If the link between traditional and modern medicine can be established that will pave pathways for combining traditional and modern medicine. Medicinal plants have been used for centuries to cure diseases of different organs of human body. The applications of plant extracts are still existent in modern dentistry such as Agar-agar, Alginic acid, Clove oil, etc. In this review, the possibility of phytodentistry in 21st century is carefully evaluated and few common medicinal plants used to cure oral diseases since ages are explained with scientific references.

Dental problems; dentistry; oral bacteria; phytodentistry; plants.