EUGENOL – A NATURAL ALTERNATIVE IN DENTISTRY: AN IN VITRO AND IN OVO BIOSAFETY ASSESSMENT

Oral pathologies and dental problems, in general, have become a public health problem in recent years, with an alarming spread.Dental problems can occur at any age and risk factors are varied, including genetic susceptibility, smoking, or drinking alcohol.Eugenol (EUG) is a compound of natural origin intensively explored for its multitude of biological properties such as analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anesthetic, antidiabetic, neuroprotective, antimicrobial, or anticancer.In addition, EUG is also recognised to be found in dental and oral care products, where it has been shown to inhibit tooth decalcification.The purpose of the present study was to evaluate EUG (10, 25, 50, 75 and 100 g/mL) in vitro for the biosafety on two healthy cell lines (HaCaT and JB6 Cl 41-5a) and also for its irritant potential in ovo.The results showed that EUG is a compound that does not induce cytotoxicity on HaCaT cells (cell viability being above 70% at all tested concentrations), but sensitizes JB6 Cl 41-5a cells in a dose-dependent manner, with cell viability reaching up to about 55%.According to the in ovo experiment, EUG was included in the category of non-irritant agents following the HET-CAM assay.