Oral submucous fibrosis - a hospital based retrospective study

Oral Submucous Fibrosis (OSMF) is a chronic precancerous condition affecting mainly the south east asian population especially those in the Indian subcontinent. It is a serious debilitating disease leading to fibrosis of the oral mucosa, trismus and difficulty in eating thus reducing the quality of life.

This study was undertaken to assess the data of the subjects having oral submucous fibrosis, from the archives of the department.

A total of 500 subjects who were diagnosed clinically of having OSMF and whose data was complete in the records of the department were selected for the study. The most common age, gender, occupation, geographic distribution, habits and symptoms associated with osmf was recorded and habits were co-related with the mouth opening of the subjects.

The mean age of subjects affected with OSMF was 36.67 ± 13.35 years and Male to Female ratio was 3.03:1. The most common habits were chewing gutkha, flavoured arecanut and pan. The most common areas affected with OSMF were faucial pillars, buccal mucosa, soft palate, uvula, lower labial mucosa, vestibules, floor of mouth, tongue, upper labial mucosa, alveolar mucosa and gingiva in decreasing order of frequency. There was an increase in the severity of OSMF with the increase in the duration and frequency of habits.

OSMF being a potentially malignant condition, early diagnosis and treatment should be effectively carried out. Dentists and General Physicians play an important role in patient education about the perils of chewing areca nut and tobacco and in the early diagnosis of high risk OSMF and cancer.