Kampo Therapies and the Use of Herbal Medicines in the Dentistry in Japan

Abstract

Dental caries and periodontal disease are two major diseases in the dentistry. As the society is aging, their pathological meaning has been changing. An increasing number of patients are displaying symptoms of systemic disease and so we need to pay more attention to immunologic aggression in our medical treatment. For this reason, we focused on natural products. Kampo consists of natural herbs—roots and barks—and has more than 3000 years of history. It was originated in China as traditional medicine and introduced to Japan. Over the years, Kampo medicine in Japan has been formulated in a way to suit Japan’s natural features and ethnic characteristics. Based on this traditional Japanese Kampo medicine, we have manufactured a Kampo gargle and Mastic Gel dentifrice. In order to practically utilize the effectiveness of mastic, we have developed a dentifrice (product name: IMPLA CARE) and treated implant periodontitis and severe periodontitis.

Effect of Orento, a Traditional Japanese Medicine, on IL-6, IL-8 Secretion, Type 1 Collagen Production and Alkaline Phosphatase Secretion in the Human Osteosarcoma Cell Line Saos-2

“…Traditional medicines are composed of herbal ingredients that allow the central herbal ingredient to exert its full effect. The central herbal ingredient is commonly referred to as the “emperor herb,” and the crude drugs that assist and strengthen the actions of the “emperor herb” are called “minister herbs.” Additionally, there is an auxiliary role of an assistant herb to the emperor and minister herbs and this assistant is known as the “harmonizer herb.” In orento, the platycodon root [ 5 ] Coptis rhizome is the emperor herb and contains the alkaloid berberine (5–10%) [ 1 ]. Therefore, we have focused our discussion on berberine in the emperor herb Coptis rhizome.…”

“…Kampo medicines, or traditional Japanese medicine, originated from ancient Chinese medicine. Kampo medicines have characteristics such as abdominal diagnosis for therapeutic indications and useful formulas with smaller amounts of herbs, compared with Chinese medicine [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. In 1967, four Kampo medicines were covered by National Health Insurance in Japan.…”

Antibacterial activity of plant species used for oral health against Porphyromonas gingivalis

“…Our bibliographical review process covered a total of 16 publications including three books [37][38][39], and 13 scientific articles [32,[40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51]. One reference accounted for 81.4% of the 495 ethnobotanical uses recorded [37].…”

Kampo for the Treatment of Pain in Japan: A Review

“…Kampo consists of a system of essentially three dichotomies and three substance concepts [3][4][5][6][7][8]. The three dichotomies are: Yin-You (yingyang), Kyo-Jitsu, and Netsu-Kan (translated into English as ''positive-negative'', ''hollow-full'', and ''hot-cold'', respectively).…”

“…In Kampo, the healthy state of human beings means a wellbalanced or non-deviated condition of the three dichotomies and the three substance concepts. The central concept of Kampo is Sho, a word that can most closely be translated into English as ''symptom,'' [7,8], but also has some connotation as ''signs.'' When assessing disease due to deviation and Sho, four specific diagnostic procedures are used.…”