Burning mouth syndrome: Correlation of treatment to clinical variables of the disease

Abstract

Objective: Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is a complex disorder with a still uncertain etiopathogenesis. A number of treatments have been used in application to BMS, though without clearly successful results. The present study compares the improvement in BMS obtained as a result of different treatment modalities in relation to the clinical characteristics of the patients. Study Design: A retrospective cohort study was made of 115 patients with BMS (109 females and 6 males) subjected to different treatments with a view to improving the symptoms. The clinical variables examined included the duration of the disorder, the location of the burning sensation, its daily variations and relationship with meals. The parameters were measured using a visual analog scale (VAS) applied at baseline and again after two weeks of treatment. Results: The mean patient age was 70±11.41 years, and the mean duration of the syndrome was 7.16±2.63 years. The tongue was the most frequently affected location. Anxiolytic treatment afforded the best results (p<0.001), and the patients with the shortest duration of disease showed the best improvement with treatment (p=0.005). Conclusion: The greatest treatment efficacy corresponded to anxiolytic drugs, and treatment was more effective when introduced early after the diagnosis of BMS.

Queixas fonoaudiológicas e verificação da fala de indivíduos com diagnóstico de ardência bucal e xerostomia

“…This datum may point that both BMS and dry mouth seem to affect mainly the population aged 50 years or around (1,15,24) . Regarding patients' clinical history, the symptomatic groups showed similarities in may aspects, which agrees with the reviewed literature (2,(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)11,16,22,23) . Some studies, however, found variations especially regarding the intensity of the symptom (4,22,24) .…”

“…This study also confirmed the associated symptoms by both groups, i.e., the main symptom in one group appears as an associated symptom in the other group, and vice-versa (4,7,8,15,23,24) . The diversity of symptoms found and associated to the main symptoms -burning sensation and dry mouth -probably makes it difficult to discover the cause, which, as a consequence, results in various treatments (14,18,19,23) .…”

“…Strategies employed to minimize oral discomfort in both symptomatic groups most patients with burning mouth (1)(2)(3)(4)(5) and dry mouth (15,19,24,29) complaints are female. Control Group was paired as to gender, in order to avoid biases regarding this variable.…”

“…Frequently, the blazing sensation affects more than one area (2,4) , and the tongue is mentioned as the most affected structure (2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7) ; it can also affect other structures of the oral cavity, such as lips, palate, gums and buccal mucosa (3)(4)(5) , as well as -though less frequently -the floor of the mouth (3) and the oropharynx (2) . The term "syndrome" in BMS is used because of the simultaneous association between the burning sensation and other subjective symptoms, such as xerostomia and dysgeusia (2,4,7,8) . BMS etiology is described as multifactorial (5) due to its enigmatic condition.…”

“…Xerostomia is constantly described in association with burning mouth (2,15,23,24) and change in taste (4,8) . The presence of taste disorders can exacerbate oral discomfort and impair both the appetite and food intake, affecting the individual's quality of life (24) .…”