A comparative study on efficacy of different treatment modalities of oral submucous fibrosis evaluated by clinical staging in population of Southern Rajasthan.

AIM: To compare the efficacy of oral lycopene and injection betamethasone with control group in the management of oral submucous fibrosis.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A hospital based longitudinal study, conducted on 270 patients over a period of 2 years (September 2010-September 2012).
RESULTS: Out of 270 cases 223 (82.59%) were males and 47 (17.40%) were females which showed a male predominance and the ratio was 5:1. In stage I it was found that both the test groups, i.e., injection betamethasone and capsule lycopene had a significant improvement in mouth opening than control group. In stage II, it was found that the test group injection betamethasone showed 24 better results as compared to capsule lycopene this could be because of better accessibility of the fibrotic bands for injecting betamethasone solution at the site of the lesion and showed highly significant difference (P < 0.0001). In stage III, it was found that the capsule lycopene showed better results as compared to injection betamethasone and the difference was highly significant (P < 0.0001). This could be because of restricted mouth opening and inability to reach the site for injecting betamethasone solution.
CONCLUSION: It is evident from the study that capsule lycopene and injection betamethasone hold good promise in the treatment of this multifactorial crippling disease.