Oral lesions in Liber Continens and The Canon of Medicine: medical approaches, modes of knowledge transmission, and reflections on modern dentistry

Abstract

During the medieval Islamic era, and before dentistry emerged as an independent discipline, Rhazes and Avicenna documented their observations on oral and dental health within their broader medical works. This comparative historical analysis examines ulcerative oral lesions within the framework of humoral medicine, using Rhazes's al-Ḥāwī fī al-Ṭibb (Liber Continens) and Avicenna's al-Qānūn fī al-Ṭibb (The Canon of Medicine), and evaluates them for diagnosis, classification, drug repertoire (materia medica), and routes of administration.

The findings reveal that Rhazes provides an extensive, multilayered therapeutic repertoire drawing on clinical observations and earlier scholars, while Avicenna adopts a more systematic and classificatory approach. Herbal and mineral drugs constitute the core of both of their therapeutic repertoires. Direct clinical observations are highlighted by the association of childhood oral thrush with milk and an emphasis on the delicacy of the oral mucosa. Their complementary historical approaches offer valuable insights that may warrant further investigation into modern pharmacology.