Corticosteroids - Role & Bids in dentistry

Corticosteroids are medicines that are similar to the natural hormone cortisol and belong to the family of drugs called steroids. These drugs have wide spread effects, which include action on body¿s metabolism, inflammatory processes and immune system. They are often used in treating skin problem, severe allergies, asthma and arthritis. These drugs are also used among patients who have recieved organ transplants, to reduce the chance or rejection and other immune mediated pathologies.Corticosteroids now a days come in a variety of sources, suitable for treating different conditions. Though these drugs are useful in treating many medical conditions they also have many undesirable side effects. These side effects are rare when used for a short time. The major side effect is, they may lower the body¿s ability to fight off infections or may make infections harder to treat. Other common side effecs include changes in appetite (increase or decrease), nervousness, restlessness, sleep problem, indigestion and osteoporosis. Thus we as oral diagnosticians should weigh the advantages and disadvantages prior to prescription of corticosteroids.