Clinical evaluation in treatment of oral lichen planus with topical fluocinolone acetonide: a 2-year follow-up

Background: Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic inflammatory disease which is recalcitrant to medical treatment. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of various forms of the topical steroid fluocinolone acetonide applications in patients with OLP. Methods: Data of OLP patients were collected retrospectively from the chart record and the 97 OLP patients were divided into three groups. The first group (n = 28) was treated with a 0.1% solution of fluocinolone acetonide (FAS), the second group (n = 22) with 0.1% fluocinolone acetonide in orabase (FAO), and the third group (n = 47) with both FAS and FAO (FAS/FAO) throughout the study. Each group was clinically evaluated as complete remission (CR), partial remission (PR), or no response (NR), following the treatment. Also, the side-effect of oral candidiasis was recorded in each group. Results: Two years of treatment resulted in complete remission of 77.3, 21.4, and 17.0% of patients in the FAO, FAS, and FAS/FAO groups, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference in disease remission (P < 0.05), but not in oral candidiasis appearance (P > 0.05) among various forms of topical steroid application. Conclusion: The study concluded that FAO or FAS can produce improved results in the management of OLP by long-term follow-up.