EVALUATION OF THE EFFECT OF GAMBIER (Uncaria gambier) EXTRACT FOR TREATMENT OF RECURRENT APHTHOUS STOMATITIS

Abstract

Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) is one of the most common ulcerative diseases of the oral cavity. RAS causes discomfort so that adequate care is needed to reduce the pain and accelerate the healing of RAS with minimal side effects. Gambier (Uncaria gambir) is used in Indonesian traditional medicine for some oral treatments without significant side effects. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of gambier (Uncaria gambir) extract on pain reduction and the healing of RAS. This pretest‐posttest controlled group was conducted on 30 subjects. The subjects were divided into two groups; gambier extract and placebo. They were instructed to apply gambier extract or placebo ointment three times daily for seven days. The severity of pain was measured by using visual analog scale (VAS), the healing duration of recovered RAS was observed, and the changes in the size of the lesion were measured using probe UNC at baseline, day 1, day 3, and day 7. Data were analyzed using SPSS ver. 22 and using two‐tailed Mann Whitney and Wilcoxon. This study showed that the pain, the healing, and the size of RAS in gambier extract group significantly reduced on the third and seventh day compared to placebo (p<0.05). It can be concluded that gambier extract has potential effect on the treatment of RAS.