The majority of teeth in this population were lost due to caries.

Objective Palatal excisional wound healing in 60 Sprague–Dawley rats was studied for a period of 14 days. Materials and Methods The wounds were made with a punch biopsy instrument with a diameter of 4 mm. After wounding, the test groups received a topical gel of Moringa oleifera Lamarck 2% or 4% leaf extract, whereas control groups received povidone iodine gel and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC 4%). Three rats were killed at 0, 3, 7, 10, and 14 days after wounding from each allocated group. The wounds were assessed at different control times and light microscopy was employed to view serial sections from blocks with magnification. Results Histological examination revealed that group treated with M. oleifera Lamarck 4% leaf extract showed the highest fibroblast synthesis and collagen deposition. Conclusion This study suggests that M. oleifera Lamarck leaf extract could be developed as a therapeutic agent for wound healing.

Background Alternative tobacco and nicotine products such as electronic cigarettes (EC), smokeless tobacco, and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) are currently being assessed as options in tobacco harm reduction due to their potential role in smoking reduction and smoking cessation. Objective To provide the current evidence on the effectiveness and safety of various alternative tobacco and nicotine products for smoking reduction and cessation. Methods A systematic review using databases from MEDLINE (PubMed), EMBASE, and The Cochrane Library was conducted up to December 2020 to identify eligible experimental and observational studies assessing the use of alternative tobacco and nicotine products on smoking reduction and smoking cessation and the safety of these products. The Cochrane Risk of Bias 2 (RoB 2) and ROBINS-I tools were used to assess the risk of bias of the included studies. Results were described through a narrative synthesis of the evidence. Results From 1955 retrieved references, 44 studies (31 randomized controlled trials/RCTs and 13 prospective cohort studies) met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. Twenty-nine studies were assessing EC, one study evaluated heat-not-burn (HNB) product, five studies were focused on snus, and nine studies assessed NRT in the form of nicotine patch, gum, etc. The overall results suggested that alternative tobacco and nicotine products in the form of EC, snus, and NRT can moderately reduce daily cigarette consumption and has potential to assist smoking cessation attempts, with fewer adverse events. Conclusion The findings suggested that alternative tobacco and nicotine products have a potential role in assisting smoking reduction and cessation, highlighting their role in the tobacco harm reduction approach. Further studies should focus on investigating long-term outcomes, safety, and effectiveness of alternative tobacco and nicotine products to better inform smoking reduction/cessation policy. PROSPERO Registration Number CRD42020205830.

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