DOI: 10.36347/sajp

Pages: 9-18

Tea, a traditional beverage originally from China, is the oldest, most popular, non-alcoholic caffeinecontaining beverage in the world, and is prepared from the infusion of dried leaves of the tea plant, Camellia sinensis. The three main different kinds of tea produced from the plant Camellia sinensis based on the process of oxidation are: green tea – non-oxidized, oolong tea – partially oxidized and black tea – fully oxidized. In vitro studies have shown that tea possesses diverse pharmacological properties to promote general health but these responses cannot always be reflected in human studies due to the use of physiologically unattainable tea concentrations in these experiments. There is a growing amount of in-vitro and in-vivo research identifying tea‟s potential oral health benefits. Tea found to be anticariogenic, anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic, anti-oxidant, etc can be used as an effective preventive agent for common oral diseases. However, further longer term, well controlled human trials are required before any firm conclusions can be made. This review provides an insight on the multitude of actions of tea in oral cavity as a preventive and therapeutic agent.