Honey in wound care in complete denture wearers: a pilot study

It is known that wearing complete dentures may result in traumatic ulcers on the underlying denture bearing mucosa. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of topical application of honey on traumatic ulcers healing. Thirty-five completely edentulous patients without any medical conditions were included in this study. Traumatic ulcer areas were measured by the same clinician on the first and third days after placement of new fabricated complete dentures. Data were analysed by the Student's t-test. There was a significant difference between the salt water rinse group and honey application group in the overall patients' assessment (p<0.05). Visual analogue scale scores were obtained in study groups. There is evidence that honey relieved the symptoms earlier than salt water. It was concluded that the topical application of honey on traumatic ulcers was found effective in shortening the duration of wound healing.