Oral Submucous Fibrosis: Review and Case Report

M. R. E. Mostehy, BDS, FDSRCS, A.A. Al-Jassem, BDS,MS, B. E. El-Mahmeed, BDS, MSc Kuwait Dental Center, Sharq 13041, Kuwait.Oral submucous fibrosis is a disease that involves the oral mucosa and produces fibrous changes in several sites of the mouth. It could lead to severe oral deformities with inability to open the mouth, tongue depapillation, and sometimes horseness of voice. Clinical importance of the disease is due to two reasons, namely: i) it is a disease that results from the use of betel-nut chewing in Indians as well as other nationalities adopting the oral habit of betel-nut chewing, ii) it is generally accepted to be a premalignant condition of the oral cavity.This paper reviews the disease and presents a severe case of this malady recorded in an Indian who chews pan-supari