Clinical management of oral lichen planus

Oral lichen planus is a relatively common chronic disease of the mucous membranes which may have more transient cutaneous manifestations. It has a number of well-recognized clinical signs and a wide range of symptoms from none through mild discomfort to severe debilitating intra-oral erosions and ulceration. It often does not respond to treatment and, in a small proportion of cases, undergoes malignant transformation to squamous cell carcinoma. Although there is an array of treatments, they are palliative rather than curative. Corticosteroids in various forms remain the mainstay of treatment but newer immunomodulatory agents have an increasing role. In this paper, we review current thinking about the management of oral lichen planus and summarize a recent European consensus protocol.