An 8-year retrospective analysis of oral submucous fibrosis in patients visiting dental College, Secunderabad

Abstract

Background: Oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) is a chronic, progressive, scarring precancerous condition of the oral cavity seen predominantly in the Indian subcontinent and South East Asia. In India, the prevalence of OSMF has been increased over the past four decades from 0.03% to 6.42%. Aim: The study aims to provide an 8-year retrospective analysis of OSMF in patients visiting dental college, Secunderabad. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted from 2008 to 2016 in dental college, Secunderabad. Data were collected from patient's outpatient records from the department of oral medicine and radiology, year wise in the perspective of demographic details, history of nutritional deficiency, adverse habits, symptoms, clinical features, site involved, and mouth opening. There were no inclusion or exclusion criteria. All the cases which were provisionally diagnosed to be OSMF were included. The data were analyzed with SPSS package version 24. Chi-square test has been applied to check the association of different parameters such as gender, nutritional deficiency, adverse habits, area, palpable fibrous bands, and mouth opening with age.P< 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The total patients were found to be 107. The mean age of the patients was 38 ± 12. Among the total patients, 86% were males and 14% were females. Among them, 3.7% were unskilled workers. Almost all of them (99%) reported no nutritional deficiency. Majority (51.4%) were having betel nut chewing habit, followed by tobacco chewing, intake of spicy food, smoking, and alcohol. Nearly 43% had limited mouth opening, followed by burning sensation and other symptoms. Palpable fibrous bands were present in 4.1% of the patients. Nearly 83.2% have been affected with OSMF in the buccal mucosa site. Grade 1 (>20 mm) mouth opening was present in 12.1% of the patients, 7.5% were having Grade 2 (11–19 mm), and 3.7% had Grade 3 (<10 mm) mouth opening. A significant association was found between age and adverse habits (P = 0.023). There was no significant association between age and sex (P = 0.924), nutritional deficiency (P = 0.766), area (P = 0.567), palpable fibrous bands (P = 0.221), and mouth opening (P = 0.155). Conclusion: Majority of the patients with OSMF were males who were < 30 years, having betel nut chewing habit and Grade 1 mouth opening.