Morphometric evaluation of soft palate in oral submucous fibrosis--a digital cephalometric study

The Present study was carried out to evaluate the morphology of soft palate in Oral Submucous Fibrosis (OSF) patients using digital lateral cephalogram. A total number of 70 patients were included in the study (Control group had 35 patients and Study group had 35 OSF patients) were evaluated for soft palate by digital lateral cephalogram. The anterio-posterior length and superior-inferior length of soft palate were measured. The morphology of soft palate was categorized as type 1, to type 6. Different types of soft palate were compared with stages of OSF. Among the Study group (35 patients) 62.9% had Stage 2 OSF. Leaf shaped (Type 1) soft palate was seen commonly in stage 2 OSF whereas butt shaped (Type 3) in stage 3 OSF. In the present study there was statistically significant difference in length (anterio-posterior) of Type 1 soft palate of OSF patients. In the present study as the OSF progressed to advanced stage there was gradual change from Type 1 and Type 2 variety of Soft palate to Type 3 and Type 6 variety of soft palate. The study observed that there was gradual reduction in the length of soft palate in anterior-posterior direction in OSF patients.