Any dentists interested in running some clinical trials?

[YesIAMJames]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miswak
http://www.dentalhealthsite.com/what-is-miswak/

Many Muslims use a stick called a miswak to clean their teeth. They chew the bark off the end and chew the end which causes it to separate in to fibers which work like the bristles of a toothbrush. Evidence seems to show that it does have anti-bacterial properties which I accept and clearly it is more effective than doing nothing. However many people claim it is MORE effective than a toothbrush and that is what I'm skeptical about. Furthermore supporters of the miswak make many other claims which don't seem to be supported by imperial evidence such as.

1. Miswaak strengthens the gums and prevents tooth decay.
2. Miswaak assists in eliminating toothaches and prevents further increase of decay which has already set in.
3. Miswaak creates a fragrance in the mouth.
4. Miswaak is a cure for illness.
5. Miswaak eliminates bad odors and improves the sense of taste.
6. Miswaak sharpens the memory.
7. Miswaak is a cure for headaches.
8. Miswaak creates lustre (noor) on the face of the one who continually uses it.
9. Miswaak causes the teeth to glow.
10. Miswaak strengthens the eyesight.
11. Miswaak assists in digestion.
12. Miswaak clears the voice.

I'm quite a quirky guy but I am a man of science so if the miswak can be proven to be as effective as a toothbrush I would be more than happy to switch (though I am very skeptical). I also suspect that many people, particularly Muslims are being mislead about the effectiveness of the miswak (more complete reasoning as to my skepticism is in my video) . For that reason I'd like to conduct some clinical studies as to it's effectiveness.

If there are any dentists on this forum who are willing to assist me let me know, I'd also like to get advice from scientists as well as to how I can make my methodology as fair as possible. Further more I'm going to post this on an Islamic forum so I can get Muslims to critically examine my method as well.

One small clinical study doesn't show effectiveness but if I can get more people to work on this I would be able to put together a meta-analysis to be more certain.

Method.

I propose that a single blinded, placebo-control study is carried out with no less than 20 people. I would like no less than 20 people to be split in to 3 groups. Group 1 uses a normal toothbrush group 2 uses the miswak and group 3 uses a stick that looks like a miswak (this will be the placebo if ethically viable). Group 1 is instructed in the correct use of the toothbrush and groups 2 and 3 will be instructed in the correct use of the miswak. A double blind is of course impossible (though the placebo should help) but it is important that the dentist doing the examination is unaware of who is in each group. Each group should have two examinations over the course of a year and the results of the examination judge the effectiveness of each method. Moreover the results should cover different aspects as we may well find that one group for example has less decay on the front but more on the back as well not to mention that differences in the health of gums.

This is very rough and disjointed at the moment but I need to get to work. I'll edit this later.

 

[GenesForLife]

Neem twigs have been traditionally used in India for the same purpose, I wouldn't be surprised if plant extracts showed antibacterial activity, during my time as a Microbiology undergraduate I was involved in experiments which demonstrated that pomegranate, neem and fenugreek leaf extracts all had antibacterial properties. This may boil down to the presence of phenolic compounds which are a regular mechanism of plant defence against microbes.

 

[Anachronous Rex]

Surely statistics must already exist regarding Mideast dental health, disease, eyesight, and rates of digestive upset. Would it not be possible to infer an answer (at least to those specific claims) from these?

 

[YesIAMJames]

Neem twigs have been traditionally used in India for the same purpose, I wouldn't be surprised if plant extracts showed antibacterial activity, during my time as a Microbiology undergraduate I was involved in experiments which demonstrated that pomegranate, neem and fenugreek leaf extracts all had antibacterial properties. This may boil down to the presence of phenolic compounds which are a regular mechanism of plant defence against microbes.

A study by Wrigley's showed that chewing gum lased with miswak was far more effective than normal chewing gum at killing bacteria 60% compared to 2.3% if my memory serves me correctly. It's quite impressive however I'm not interested in does it work, I'm interested in does it work better than a toothbrush.

Surely statistics must already exist regarding Mideast dental health, disease, eyesight, and rates of digestive upset. Would it not be possible to infer an answer (at least to those specific claims) from these?

Too many variables diet is a biggy and fundamentalists who use the miswak may take brushing more seriously than those who use a toothbrush. The only clinical study of miswak vs toothbrush I've seen so far was atrociously run. With so many people using it I would have thought there would be a lot more data too

 

[monitoradiation]

1. Miswaak strengthens the gums and prevents tooth decay.
2. Miswaak assists in eliminating toothaches and prevents further increase of decay which has already set in.
3. Miswaak creates a fragrance in the mouth.
4. Miswaak is a cure for illness.
5. Miswaak eliminates bad odors and improves the sense of taste.
6. Miswaak sharpens the memory.
7. Miswaak is a cure for headaches.
8. Miswaak creates lustre (noor) on the face of the one who continually uses it.
9. Miswaak causes the teeth to glow.
10. Miswaak strengthens the eyesight.
11. Miswaak assists in digestion.
12. Miswaak clears the voice.

I agree with Genes.

Given that a lot of these claimed benefits don't seem to directly correlate to the physical wellbeing coming from brushing teeth, there could very well be some underlying chemical advantage to using miswak specifically made of the plant.

The question I'm interested in is whether or not miswak can be made of something that is chemically neutral, say, plastic, and still convey these same benefits; my guess would be no. If that's the case, then I think a good case can be made that it isnt the miswak itself but whatever antibacterial properties the plant has, and how we can make use of them outside of brushing our teeths with miswak.