Therapeutic Effectiveness of Plant Medicine in Treating Xerostomia-A Systematic Review

Background: Xerostomia is ‘subjective feeling of dryness in mouth.’ It can result from either a decrease in salivary production or alterations in its composition. Plant formulations can be used as an alternative to the conventional substitutes as they are less expensive with lower side effects. This systematic review aims at assessing therapeutic effectiveness of plant medicine in treatment of patients with xerostomia. Materials and Methodology: Review protocol was registered in the PROSPERO database (CRD42023469059). Three databases were searched with restriction of English language, time limit searched until March 2024, included a total of ten randomized controlled trials in this review. Cochrane’s risk of bias assesses quality of articles using Revman 5.3. Results: Upon reviewing titles and abstracts, full texts of 57 articles were evaluated. A total of ten RCTs with overall 644 patients were included qualitatively. From evidence, all ten studies exhibited significant reduction in dryness, increased salivary flow rate, decreased burning sensation, and quality of life improvement. Conclusion: Plant Formulations of all the 10 studies were effective in alleviating the symptoms of dry mouth and reduction in burning sensation when compared to commercial conventional drugs. While current treatments often come with high costs and side effects, recent herbal formulations show promise in alleviating symptoms and improving patient quality of life. This systematic review emphasizes plant-based medicine formulations as promising therapeutic options to effectively reduce symptoms of xerostomia with minimal side effects.