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Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge Vol 20(2), April 2021, pp 378-389 Ethnomedicinal study of medicinal plants used to cure dental diseases by the indigenous population of district Buner, Pakistan H A Jan*,a,†, S Jana, S Walia, L Ahmadb, F Sistoc, R W Bussmannd, N Ahmade & M Rommanf aDepartment of Botany, Islamia College Peshawar, Pakistan bDepartment of Botany, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Sheringal, Dir Upper, Pakistan cDepartment of Biomedical, Surgery and Dental Sciences, University of Milan Via C. Pascal 36, 20133 Milano dDepartment of Ethnobotany, Institute of Botany, Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia eDepartment of Botany, University of Peshawar, Pakistan fDepartment of Botany, University of Chitral, Pakistan E-mail: †[email protected] Received 05 July 2019; revised 11 January 2021 This is the first study of its kind conducted with the aim to document and conserve the ethnomedicinal knowledge of plants used to cure dental diseases in Buner, Pakistan and to provide starting point for future pharmacological studies about new herbal drugs used for dental disorders. Several field trips were conducted in 2018-19 to collect indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants. A semi-structured questionnaire was used as tool for data collection in individual and group interviews and informants were selected by snowball sampling. In this study 935 men and 323 women were interviewed, yielding information on 55 plant species belonging to 34 families. Lamiaceae and Solanaceae were the dominant plant families used and the main life forms used were herbs (28 species). Leaves were the most used part (19 species). The local population was found to be sensitive and careful about oral hygiene and had rich ethnomedicinal knowledge. Keywords: Dental diseases, District Buner, Ethnomedicine, Medicinal plants, Pakistan IPC Code: Int Cl.21: A61K 36/00, A61K 36/185, A61K 39/00, A61K 35/78, A61K 38/56 There is a well-known connection between oral health phytochemicals extracted from medicinal plants used and general health1. The use of plants for the in traditional remedies can be a good alternative to improvement of tooth and gum health has a very long allopathic medicines4. history. In different areas of the world where modern The causes of dental ailments are bacterial method of tooth-brushing is not performed, the use of infections, foods and lifestyle. Oral hygiene chewing sticks (Miswak) is common. Babylonians deficiency and the consumption of more meat and reported this method already in 5000 BC. This pastry can harm the teeth, leading to bleeding gums, practice of tooth-brushing is still widely used dental caries and pyorrhea1 and might also disturb the especially in African and South Asian communities, digestion process. The treatment of dental diseases as well as remote parts of the Southern United States with herbal preparation has been studied by a variety and Tropical America2. of researchers and commonly used species are Acacia Dental diseases such as periodontitis and caries are nilotica L., Azadirachta indica A. Juss. and Vitex very common around the world1. In school children, negundo L.1. Most of the plants used for dental the infection prevalence is about 90%3,4. Different diseases have anti-bacterial activity and alkaline drugs are used to cure dental diseases, but they often nature and help to maintain the saliva acid-alkaline have side effects like diarrhea, vomiting and staining equilibrium, decreases the plaque formation of teeth. On the other hand, many bacteria have and predisposition to periodontal infections. already developed resistance against antibiotics and Microorganisms isolated from infected gums showed the search for substitutes is a big challenge. Natural frequent resistance to antibiotics but not to medicinal plants e.g., neem1. —————— During the survey of the study area, it was *Corresponding author observed that medicinal plants resources were still in JAN et al.: MEDICINAL PLANTS USED FOR DENTAL DISEASES OF DISTRICT BUNER 379 wide use by the local communities. In Buner, the Mardan district to the South bordered, the Hazara Public Healthcare System consists of one District Division and Indus River to the East and Swabi Health Quarter Hospital, three THQ-Hospitals, two district to the North-East is (Fig. 1). The study area Rural-Health-Centers, twenty BHUs and eight has been a sub-division part of district Swat until dispensaries. Only one Maternal and Child Health 1990. In 1991 it received the status of district6. The Center (MCH) is present, but without a single doctor5. area is spread over 1865 km2 with a total population In this project we collected and documented of 897319 as per 2017 census. The entire population medicinal plants used to cure dental diseases with the of the district is homogenous both culturally and aims (i) to find valuable medicinal plants, (ii) to religiously. preserve the indigenous wealth of knowledge and In Buner most of the local population has a low (iii) to make the indigenous population aware about economic level, about 95% mainly depends on the importance of sustainable use of medicinal plants. agriculture and livestock and 5% have earned work income. The houses of local people are like small Materials and Methods kingdoms in which the father acts as a king. Every Geographical position of the area member of the house has their own duty and at night The study area lies between 3409'-34043'N and time all family sit together for dinner. After dinner, 72010'-720-47'E. The area is bordered by district Swat the men go to Hujra or Dera (the equivalent of a in the North, the Malakand Agency to the West, community club) where the older people tell stories to Fig. 1 — Map of the study area 380 INDIAN J TRADIT KNOW, APRIL 2021 the youngers and also share cultural norms Medicinal plant collection, preservation and identification with them7. During collection, walks in the woods and Buner is surrounded by mountains on all sides. The mountains were conducted, and plant specimens were elevation of mountains ranges from 366 mm in collected and preserved according to Samant et al.10. Totalai to 2911 m in Dosara Peak. The district climate The place of collection, local name and important varies with altitude and can be categorized as dry characteristics of plant e.g., habit, flower color, flower subtropical7. Phytogeographically the district is the shape, leaf form and habitat etc. were also noted. part of Sino-Japanese region with unique vegetation. Collected specimens and photos taken in the field The area has two distinctive rainy seasons the Rabi were used for identification. The collected specimens season from November to May and the Kharif were identified with the help of available literature7 monsoon from July to October. About 1650 mm comparing with herbarium specimens and also by rainfall occurs annually. The district climate is Dr. Samin Jan and Dr. Sher Wali (Department of moderate. In summer, it is pleasant in the upper parts Botany, Islamia College Peshawar) and Dr. Zahid (Gadezai and Gokand), while hot in the lower parts Ullah Department of Botany, University of Swat. For (Khadukhel), where the temperature reaches up to authentication and correction the names were 40°C. In winter, snow falls in the upper parts. About compared with the online “the Plant List”11. All 32102 hectares of the area are covered by subtropicals collected specimens were stored at the Herbarium of forest. In the time of Wali-i-Swat (from 1926 to the Botany Department, Islamia College Peshawar. 1969), this region was famous for its large forests, All the practical work conducted during the study, is dominated by Pinus roxburghii, Olea ferruginea, summarized in the Fig. 2. Acacia modesta and Quercus incana. The mountains Study of literature of Buner have a rich variety of medicinal flora. Previously published data were searched using Ananguanay (Wild pomegranate), Bakyana Google Scholar, HINARI, Medline/PubMed and (Persian lilac), Inzer (Wild figs) and Toot (Mulberry), Science Direct databases. To find topic related papers, Celtis australis, Monotheca buxifolia, Berberis lyceum, Olea ferruginea, Acacia modesta, Dodonaea Table 1 — Demographic profile of the study area viscosa, Pinus roxburghii and Quercus incana are the S/No. Informants Interviewed most famous medicinal plant7. Due to the remoteness Gender No. Informants of the area, the people mainly prefer medicinal plants 1 Male 1952 to cure minor diseases. 2 Female 323 Traditional Knowledge of Medicinal Plants Interviews with the local community Age Group No. Medicinal Plants Complete To collect data on medicinal plants, the study area Informants Reported Recipe/s was visited several times in the period of 2018-19 in 1 20-29 212 39 35 different seasons. During the course of work the use 2 30-39 257 81 67 of medicinal plants and their ethnomedicinal uses for 3 40-49 471 129 113 dental problems were documented by interviewing 4 50-59 673 196 268 5 60-69 396 178 189 1258 people of different ages (15-110 years) through 6 70-79 187 146 213 7 semi-structured interviews . Both men and women 7 80-Above 79 167 151 (935 men, 323 women, 43 male herbalists) (Table 1) Total 2275 were selected by using snowball sampling8. The Informants questionnaire which was used as a tool for data Literacy Rate of Informants collection9 consisted of the following questions: Age Group No. % age (i) informant name, residence place, gender, education Informants 1 20-29 158/212 74.53% level, age and job, (ii) plant local name, collection 2 30-39 106/257 41.24% place, medicinal importance, medicinal important 3 40-49 129/471 27.39% part, route of use, indigenous medicinal recipe, dose 4 50-59 86/673 12.78% of drug and side effect/s. The informants were asked 5 60-69 45/396 11.36% to mention all plants they knew to get maximum 6 70-79 11/187 05.88% 7 80-Above 2/79 02.53% ethnomedicinal data.

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