Steroid Therapy in Oral Lichen Planus

Abstract

Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by cellular-mediated inflammatory reactions which render apoptotic epithelial cells and degeneration of the basal epithelial layer. Eighteen volunteering cases of OLP were scheduled, after getting their informed consents, to be reported in this study. All of them were diagnosed histologically. The diagnosis was confirmed via immunofluorescence. Another incisional sample was scheduled after finishing the recruited treatment. The patient histological findings were contrasted, before and after treatment, to ten cases of non-lesional archival cases of oral mucosa as a control group. Results revealed no difference in the response to the pharmaceutical form of steroids used in treating OLP. Although steroid therapy is the mainstay treatment of OLP, adjuvant treatment modalities should be recruited for improving the healing process.