2020/01/01 by Naman R. Rao, Alessandro Villa, Chandramani B. More +3 · 1 citation
Dentistry · Medicine · #Oral Health Pathology and Treatment #Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology #Cancer and Skin Lesions
paper · pdf · doi:10.1186/s40463-020-0399-7
openalex publication_date 2020/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
Oral Submucous fibrosis (OSMF) has traditionally been described as "a chronic, insidious, scarring disease of the oral cavity, often with involvement of the pharynx and the upper esophagus". Millions of individuals are affected, especially in South and South East Asian countries. The main risk factor is areca nut chewing. Due to its high morbidity and high malignant transformation rate, constant efforts have been made to develop effective management. Despite this, there have been no significant improvements in prognosis for decades. This expert opinion paper updates the literature and provides a critique of diagnostic and therapeutic pitfalls common in developing countries and of deficiencies in management. An inter-professional model is proposed to avoid these pitfalls and to reduce these deficiencies.