ABSTRACT:
Oral submucous fibrosis is a chronic, complex potentially malignant disorder with a high risk of malignant transformation. As the disease progresses, the jaws become rigid to the point that the sufferers are unable to open their mouth. The major cause of this condition is arecanut or betel quid chewing. This systematic review explores and discusses the researches done in the effectiveness of turmeric in oral submucous fibrosis. The name turmeric is derived from the Latin word terra merita or turmeryte. The most active component present in turmeric is curcumin. It is a safe, non-toxic and an effective herb that can act as an alternative for many conventional drugs due to its enormous therapeutic properties on various systems of our body. Since age old times turmeric has been used in households with the belief that it can destroy harmful agents. Now has come the era where turmeric finds its use out of households and into clinics. Through various studies it has been found that turmeric has anti oxidants and anti allergic activities. This makes turmeric a better choice for clinicians to use it to cure precancerous lesions like oral submucous fibrosis. Researches that are done on human beings have almost shown positive results in curing oral submucous fibrosis. However to implement the use of turmeric in oral submucous fibrosis clinically more trials on a large scale are yet to be conducted.