The main purpose of a root canal treatment is to eliminate the bacteria and their products from the pulp space. Chemomechanical preparation (chemical-refers to irrigating solutions, i.e., either synthetic chemicals or herbal solutions and mechanical-refers to instrumentation of a root canals with endodontic files) of a root canal system plays a major role in obtaining the rationale of root canal treatment. Various synthetic chemicals known as endodontic irrigants play a major role in disinfection, but also have undesirable properties like allergic potential, toxicity, unacceptable taste, etc. Today there is a major change in trend towards the use of natural herbal medicines as a part of dental treatment due to its easy availability, less toxicity, and cost effectiveness. This article aims to provide a comprehensive review of various herbal endodontic irrigants evaluated for their effectiveness in the disinfection of a root canal system. This literature review is conducted using electronic databases "PubMed," "Google Scholar," and "Scopus," and articles were limited to those in the English language and published between 1980 and 2014.
Keywords: Morinda citrifolia; herbal medicine; propolis; tea tree oil; triphala.