What is Oral Submucous fibrosis(OSMF)?

Oral submucous fibrosis (I am pretty sure you might have not heard about it earlier and it’s a good thing) is a chronic disease which affects your oral cavity and causes numerous harmful changes in your mouth. 

There might be a lot of questions running in your mind. What is exactly OSMF? What are these changes we are talking about? Why do these occur or what are the causative factors which eventually leads to this and how to prevent it before happening. 

We will address all your questions and doubts ahead.

OSMF, in dental terminology, is defined as “an oral precancerous condition characterized by inflammation and progressive fibrosis of the submucosal tissues resulting in marked rigidity and trismus.” and in general terms it can be said as, OSMF is seen as a disease in which fibro-elastic changes in soft tissues of the mouth start to occur with atrophy of the cells causing a stiff mouth and which often leads to trismus or inability to eat, chew or open your mouth wide-open. 

In short, an OSMF patient will feel stiffness while opening his mouth which leads to restricted mouth opening and also feels a burning sensation in the fibrous bands formed.

Source – Dove Medical Process

How does OSMF occur? 

Ill habits like chewing areca nuts, betel quids or tobacco in any form, over a long period of time causes irritation in the oral cavity and will lead to such diseases. 

Source – CBS Los Angeles

The constant irritation caused by them to the oral mucosa can lead to inflammation and increase in macrophages or cytokines productions which are the defence cells of the body which further increases the collagen or fibrous tissue formation. Thus, causing fibrosis in the mucosa due to which stiffness of mouth is seen. 

After understanding what causes OSMF, let’s move on to what are the clinical features of OSMF.

• The most common feature seen in OSMF is the restricted mouth opening due to the fibrosis in the oral mucosa. 
• Burning sensation on eating hot or spicy food accompanied with pain. 
• Dryness of the mouth 
• Blanched buccal mucosa along with shrunken uvula  is clinically visible. 
• Depapilation of tongue i.e. reduced activity of taste buds because of surface coating also occurs leading to loss of taste sensation. 

Management and Treatment Plan for OSMF

The treatment of OSMF courses over a long time which includes counselling and medical management both.

• The patients are encouraged and counselled to leave the habit of chewing tobacco, Areca nuts for a better and faster recovery. 
• Balanced diet including vitamins , minerals and iron are advised for example green leafy vegetables or fruits and tomatoes. Green tea is highly recommended for patients with OSMF . 
• The medical management includes steroidal therapy which helps in preventing the fibrosis of the oral mucosa and inhibits the inflammatory responses. Hyaluronidase helps in reduction of the burning sensation and decrease in collagen production and thus is used along with steroids for good and positive results. 
• Therapy with placental extracts is also given to the patients which helps in treatment of OSMF. As these placental extracts contain vitamins , enzymes, and steroids these are said to be biogenic stimulators and thus have no side effects and show promising results. 
• Chymotrypsin is also said to be potential enough for acting as an anti inflammatory agent along with it Interferon Gamma or chemotherapeutic agents like Bleomycin can also be used for good results. 
• In severe cases, surgical intervention can be done in which the fibrous bands are excised along with placements of grafts or other surgery done by Carbon Dioxide lasers. 
• Oral physiotherapy is a must which includes muscle exercises which puts pressure on the fibrous bands and helps in relieving pain and increasing the mouth opening. 

This pretty much sums up the basic knowledge on OSMF. 

The bottom line is OSMF is a precancerous condition, a warning signal for you and your body about the harmful effects tobacco has caused in your body. It’s important to get rid of such ill practices, before they damage beyond repair.

For more information and queries, please contact us at Lawrenceville Dentistry and we are happy to help you with the best of our services.