Title	Topical Aloe Vera is effective in treating Recurrent Minor Aphthous Stomatitis
Clinical Question	Does treatment with 2% Aloe Vera gel in a patient with recurrent minor aphthous stomatitis decrease perceived pain, size of the lesion and duration of healing compared to a placebo?
Clinical Bottom Line	The topical application of Aloe Vera gel proves to be effective in reducing the intensity of pain, size of the lesion and the overall healing duration of the recurrent minor aphthous ulcers.
Best Evidence
PubMed ID Author / Year Patient Group Study type (level of evidence) 23162576 Babaee/2012 40 patients with recurrent minor aphthous. Double blind RCT, Clinical trial Key results Control group used a placebo (2% normal saline gel); test group used 2% Aloe Vera gel (vehicle: 2% normal saline gel). Patients were advised to apply the gel 3 times per day for 10 days. Test group demonstrated significantly lower healing times for pain and lesion size. (P≤0.05 ).
Evidence Search	"Stomatitis, Aphthous/treatment"[Mesh] and “Aloe Vera” [Supplementary Concept]
Comments on The Evidence	The samples were randomly assigned, evenly distributed and conducted as a double blind study. The article describes the reduction in size of the lesion in the group using 2% Aloe Vera gel vs. placebo at baseline, and days 3 and 7. Although the results were overall statistically significant, the average lesion diameter at days 3 and 7 was slightly larger in the test group as compared to the ulcers treated with the placebo. However, the diameter of inflammation surrounding the minor aphthous ulcer was reduced in the test group as compared to the control group. A flaw of this study was that there was no negative/non-intervention control group. Based on our existing knowledge of recurrent minor aphthous ulcers, the healing time ranges between 7-14 days without any intervention. This study is considered as low level of evidence and although it suggests that there is fair scientific evidence that topical Aloe Vera has some benefits in treating recurrent minor aphthous ulcers, however, multiple trials with appropriate control groups would be beneficial to confirm validity of the results.
Applicability	Recurrent aphthous stomatitis is a commonly occurring oral disease, causing severe discomfort. The results obtained from this study allow us to use Aloe Vera gel safely in the clinical setting for patients presenting with recurrent minor aphthous stomatitis.
Specialty	(Oral Medicine/Pathology/Radiology) (General Dentistry) (Pediatric Dentistry) (Dental Hygiene)
Keywords	Recurrent aphthous stomatitis, therapy, Aloe Vera, canker sores
ID#	2481
Date of submission	05/22/2013
E-mail	meenachi.sellappan@ucdenver.edu
Author	Meenachi Sellappan
Co-author(s)
Co-author(s) e-mail
Faculty mentor	Pallavi Parashar, BDS, DDS
Faculty mentor e-mail	pallavi.parashar@ucdenver.edu
Basic Science Rationale (Mechanisms that may account for and/or explain the clinical question, i.e. is the answer to the clinical question consistent with basic biological, physical and/or behavioral science principles, laws and research?) None available
Comments and Evidence-Based Updates on the CAT (FOR PRACTICING DENTISTS', FACULTY, RESIDENTS and/or STUDENTS COMMENTS ON PUBLISHED CATs) None available