Quantifying Mucosal Suppleness in OSMF via Maximum Water Holding Capacity

Objective: OSMF management revolves around surgical, medical & physical modalities with varied results, however therapeutic goals are only limited to increase in inter-incisal mouth opening and decrease in associated symptoms. Improvement in mucosal suppleness being majorly a non quantifiable entity has never been considered as an indicator of improvement. The aim of this pilot study is to determine whether maximum water holding capacity can predict the improvement in mucosal suppleness of OSMF patients. Material and Methods: Twenty-four OSMF patients underwent intralesional therapy (cocktail of injection dexamethasone, hyaluronidase 1500 IU, placental extracts) weekly for 4 weeks. Four patients dropped out from the study due to non-maintenance of follow-ups. Passive interincisal mouth opening and maximum water holding capacity were recorded pre-operatively, after every session and 3 months post completion in intralesional therapy. Results: Water holding capacity showed a 32.65% improvement at the end of 3 months which was in correlation with 29.71% increase in inter-incisal opening and a 38.62% decrease in associated symptoms at the end of 3 months post treatment. Conclusions: Maximum water holding capacity can replace the traditional methods of linear measurement techniques to quantify improvement in mucosal suppleness as well as can act as a reliable, low cost, repeatable method. Additionally, it can benefit in physiotherapy and increasing patient motivation toward their treatment.