CURCUMIN: A MAGIC SPICE FOR ORAL POTENTIALLY MALIGNANT DISORDERS
Oral potentially malignant disorders are commonly encountered lesions in dental practice. These lesions are frequently neglected by the patients. Due to high rate of malignant transformation, early di agnosis and treatment of these lesions is mandatory. Various pharmacological treatment modalities are available for the treatment of these lesions. Along with therapeutic effects, it is associated with various adverse reactions. Due to this, there are exte nsive researches conduced in past few decades of the herbal medicines. Plants with medicinal properties are commonly used for treatment of various diseases since ancient times. Turmeric, a rhizome of curcuma longa is well known for its excellent therapeutic effects and is used for the treatment of number of diseases since ages. The anti inflammatory, antioxidant and anticancer properties of curcumin are widely studied and well established. The aim of this article is to review the pharmacological actions, therapeutic effects and adverse drug reactions of curcumin in the treatment of oral potentially malignant disorders.