Objectives To assess the effectiveness and safety of any form of therapy compared with glucocorticoid for the treatment of oral lichen planus. Method The Cochrane Library (Issue 4, 2007), MEDLINE (1966-2007), EMbase (1966-2007), CBM (1978-2005), CNKI (1989-2007), and VIP (1989-2007) were searched for randomized controlled trials or quasi-randomized controlled trials. Quality assessment and data extraction were performed by two reviewers independently. Meta-analysis was performed for the results of homogeneous studies by RevMan 4.2.9 software.Results Finally, 14 studies involving 9 therapy methods were included. Four studies were concerned with cyclosporine.We performed a meta-analysis of 3 studies. The results showed there was no statistically significant difference in the curative effect of cyclosporine and the steroid with RR 2.94 and 95%CI 1.03 to 9.97. The results showed that the curative effect of total glucosides of paenia plus topical application of triamcinolone acetonide (RR0.21, 95%CI 0.10 to 0.44),tacrolimu (RR 0.18 and 95%CI 0.05 to 0.72), and pimecrolimus (WMD –0.50 and 95%CI –0.85 to –0.15) were better than glucocorticoid. There was a statistically significant difference between fluocinolone acetonide and retinoic acid in terms of curative effect with RR 3.20 and 95%CI 1.03 to 9.97. The curative effect of mesalazine (RR 0.42 and 95%CI 0.05 to 3.54), Mycostatin paste plus desamethasone paste (RR 1.23 and 95%CI 0.93 to 1.61), triamcinolone acetonide plus vitamin B12 ( RR 0.50 and 95%CI 0.05 to 4.94), chitin (RR 1.30 and 95%CI 0.86 to 1.96) was similar with that of glucocorticoid.Conclusion Statistical analysis showed the curative effect of total glucosides of paenia combined with triamcinoloneacetonide is better than glucocorticoid. Due to the mistakes of theincluded studies designs,,further high-quality,largescale randomized controlled trials are required to confirm the effectiveness and safety of this therapy method.