Background and aim: Lichen planus is a common inflammatory muco-cutaneous disease. The main treatment of lichen planus is topical use of corticosteroids. However, long-term application of them could have adverse reactions and also recurrence and resistance to treatment may occur. Anti-oxidants and biologics have been introduced as alternative treatments. In this review article, therapeutic applications of these two groups in oral lichen planus are discussed.
Material and Methods: In this review, 46 articles were included in the study through the electronic search and after evaluation of the titles and abstracts.
Results: Anti-oxidants and biologics both are increasingly in the center of attention. Retinoids have been introduced for a long time before. Generally, the results have showed efficacy of most of them in the treatment of lichen planus. However, further studies are required. Biologics are considered for specifically targeted treatment recently and they could be an appropriate alternative for corticosteroids but biologics still are in the advent of their path and further investigations are needed for their function evaluation.
Conclusion: It seems that Anti-oxidants and biologics could be an appropriate alternatives for oral lichen planus.