Comparative study of Teucrium extract and chlorhexidine in the healing and treatment of experimental oral ulcers

The presence of any type of lesion in the mouth, such as injuries, sores or oral pests, in addition to causing pain in the area can cause the animal to not want to receive food as result, reduces weight and production. Teucrium is one of the medicinal plants that have effective healing properties in healing the mucosa. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare comparative plant extract of Teucrium and chlorhexidine in the healing of experimental oral ulcers. 

In this experimental study, 36 New Zealand male rabbits were randomly divided into 3 equal groups: control without treatment (C), treatment group with 0.2% chlorhexidine (T1) and treatment group with hydroalcoholic extract of Teucrium (T2).  In the beginning after anesthesia, the animals were placed in a supine position on the left side and the mouth of the animals was opened as much as possible by the mouth opener. Then, wound with a diameter of 3 mm was made on the gingival mucosa. Twice a day, the right gingival lesion was impregnated with a swab soaked in chlorhexidine solution (T1 group) and hydroalcoholic extract of Teucrium (T2 group). On days 1, 3, 7, and 14, the gums were sampled and the histopathological criteria for inflammatory cell infiltration, collagen filament arrangement, fibroblast cell presence, vascular formation, and epithelial tissue rearrangement were assessed. Also, the macroscopic diameter of the gingival tissue wound was measured on the mentioned days.

In T1 and T2 groups, the criteria for inflammatory cell infiltration, arrangement of collagen and vascular formation and rearrangement of epithelial tissue on days 7 and 14 showed a significant change compared to C group (P < 0.05). In the C group, the criteria of inflammatory cell infiltration increased during the study. In T1 and T2 groups, the macroscopic diameter of gingival tissue ulcer showed a significant decrease compared to C group (P < 0.05).

This study showed that Teucrium extract can accelerate experimental wound healing.