"Propolis" And Its Potential in Dentistry: A Review

The health fraternity has always used natural products as an alternative, to the conventional allopathic formulations available for the treatment of several afflictions. ‘Propolis’ or the ‘purple gold of beehive’, a natural antibiotic is a resinous substance that honey bees collect from trees and plants to seal their hives. It has appreciable anti-inflammatory ,antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral actions, as well as cytostatic and antitumor activity .Propolis has been used in dentistry for various purposes and has a promising role in future medicine as well as in dentistry. Of late there has been a renewed interest in this herbal medicine, with considerable research work being conducted in America, Australia, U.K. and in eastern part of Europe. This paper is an attempt to review and highlight various applications of this compound in dentistry.