Free radicals are unstable chemicals formed in the body during normal metabolism or exposure to environmental toxins such as pollutants in air, food and water resulting in oxidative stress which can further cause cell damage and death. Free radicals have been implicated in numerous human diseases including atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus, parkinsonism, immune dysfunction, rheumatoid arthritis as well as various oral diseases like leukoplakia, oral submucous fibrosis and oral cancer. Antioxidants have proved to be promising in the chemoprevention and management of such potentially malignant disorders and other free radical related diseases.