Table 1 Search strategy

EBSCOHOST (dentistry and oral sciences)

Consist of an extensive collection of essential full-text dentistry journals and many of which are open access

(siwak or miswak or ‘’chewing stick’’) AND ( periodontium or periodontal or ‘’periodontal health’’ or ‘’periodontal disease’’)

Year: 1990–2021, source type: Academic journal, English language

PubMed

Is a primary medical database, allowing for a more permissive search string to include more medical research in the clinical field

(siwak[Title/Abstract] OR miswak[Title/Abstract] OR “chewing stick”[Title/Abstract]) AND (periodontium[Title/Abstract] OR periodontal[Title/Abstract] OR “periodontal health”[Title/Abstract] OR “periodontal disease”[Title/Abstract])

Year 1990–2021, Exclude book and document

SCOPUS

Is a database that consists of comprehensive and rich data in a wide variety of disciplines

( TITLE-ABS-KEY ( siwak OR miswak OR “chewing stick”) AND TITLE-ABS-KEY ( periodontium OR periodontal OR ‘’periodontal AND health’’ OR ‘’periodontal AND disease’’))

Article, Year: 1990–2021, English, Final publication stage, subject area dentistry

Google scholar

Provides an easy way to search for full text or metadata of scholarly literature, across a wide range of publishing formats and disciplines

siwak OR miswak OR periodontium OR periodontal “periodontal disease” “periodontal health’’ ‘’chewing stick’’

Year: 1990–2021