Oral Submucous Fibrosis: Correlation of Clinical Grading to various habit factors

Background: Over the past several decades, dental researchers reported different aspects of oral submucous Fibrosis (OSMF). Yet, there is a big lacunae in the present scenario of evidence based dentistry which correlates the role of critical components of a habit such as duration, frequency, chewing time to the clinical grading of OSMF. Aims: To correlate the etiological factors to the severity of clinical grading along duration, frequency and style of chewing habit. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study of 390 oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) patients who attended the dental clinic in Central India, Indore, over a period of 3 years was done. Results:  Among cases, grade I OSMF was seen in 50.51% (197), grade II OSMF in 28.20% (110) and grade III OSMF in 21.28% (83) subjects, with a male to female ratio of 2.3:1. Gutkha and other arecanut products was practiced most commonly and showed significant risk in the severity of OSMF. Conclusion: The relative risk of OSMF increased with duration, frequency and style of chewing habits for longer duration and swallowing it without spitting.