Introduction: Antioxidants relieve the signs and symptoms of oral submucous fibrosis by decreasing the load of free radicals. Aim: The aim of this systematic review was to retrieve and analyse clinical studies investigating systemic antioxidants in the management of OSMF. Material and method: Literature was searched in electronic search engines from 1995 to 2015. The identified titles / abstracts were independently screened according to set criteria for selection of abstracts. The full -text articles retrieved were assessed for eligibility and the eligible studies were assessed for qualitative and quantitative evidence. 9 full text articles were selected and assessed for eligibility. 6 full text articles were eligible for qualitative and quantitative analysis. Meta -analysis was done for mouth opening. Results: The extracted data resulted in 207 subjects using systemic antioxidants. Meta -analysis of the combined data of the studies administering systemic antioxidants as a single entity or in combination with intralesional corticosteroids (n=121) as compared to other interventions (n=121) did not depict significant improvement in mouth opening (SMD = -1.446; 95% CI = -3.332 to -0.439) with significant test of heterogeneity (p = 0.0001 < 0.05). Meta -analysis of the combined data of all the interventional groups (n=207) and control groups (n=203) which depicted that systemic antioxidants as a single entity or in combination with intralesional steroids significantly improve mouth opening v/s controls (SMD = -1.235; 95% CI = -2.263to -0.206) with a significant test of heterogeneity (and p = 0.0001 < 0.05). Conclusion: Although the meta -analysis indicates that antioxidants appear to be effective in management of OSMF, the high degree of heterogeneity and limited amount of data in this systematic review and meta -analysis does not provide a credible evidence to support these observations.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
334 Leonard St
Brooklyn, NY 11211
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.