Oral Submucous Fibrosis: Medical Management

Oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) is a debilitating, potentially cancerous oral condition, caused primarily by chewing areca nut and its mixtures, as demonstrated by numerous epidemiological studies and other corroborative evidence. The condition may sometimes extend beyond the mouth to the oesophagus. OSF is well established as a condition with high malignant potential and is considered irreversible. Urgent public health measures are required to curb this new but avoidable epidemic, that increased occurrence of OSF in the younger age groups would lead to an earlier development of oral cancer from OSF was confirmed by the demonstration of a significant increase in the incidence of oral cancer in the Ahmedabad population-based cancer registry data. This paper’s purpose is to discuss current literature on OSF and help the reader to be better acquainted with the