title: Drug treatment for oral submucous fibrosis.
abstract: METHODS
  Searches were made for relevant data using Medline and the International Poster Journal of Dentistry and Oral Medicine online database (see ipj.quintessenz.de).
  
  
  METHODS
  Meta-analyses, randomised controlled trials (RCT), clinical trials and other experimental designs were considered.
  
  
  METHODS
  Because of heterogeneity of study designs and drugs used, a qualitative synthesis was conducted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seventeen publications were identified of which 15 were included. Of these, six were RCT, four were clinical trials/ controlled clinical trials, and five were other types experimental studies. The studies in total involved 1224 patients. The rate of those lost to followup reached 30% in some studies. The drugs used to treat oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) were categorised into steroids, enzymes, cardiovascular drugs, antioxidants, vitamins and microelements.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There are few high-quality studies available and the present drug treatments are in general empirical and treat only symptoms. There is a need for high-quality RCT in this area, especially studies involving combined and sequential therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, KLE VK Institute of Dental Sciences and Hospital, Belgaum, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Punnya V
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Angadi