Efficacy of steroidal vs non-steroidal agents in oral lichen planus: a randomised, open-label study

This study compared the therapeutic efficacy of steroidal and non-steroidal agents for treating oral lichen planus.

Forty patients with clinical and/or histologically proven oral lichen planus were randomly placed into four groups and treated with topical triamcinolone, oral dapsone, topical tacrolimus or topical retinoid for three months. Pre- and post-treatment symptoms and signs were scored for each patient.

Patients in all treatment groups showed significant clinical improvement after three months (p 0.05) and for topical retinoid vs topical tacrolimus (p > 0.05).

Non-steroidal drugs such as dapsone, tacrolimus and retinoid are as efficacious as steroidal drugs for treating oral lichen planus, and avoid the side effects associated with steroids.