Evaluation of the Effect of Oral Zinc Sulfate on Burning Mouth Syndrome: A Double Blind Randomized Clinical Trial

Abstract

Background: Burning Mouth Syndrome (BMS) is a common condition that affects menopausal women and patients experience a severe burning sensation in their mouth. So far there have been no definitive treatment for this disease. Objectives: The present study was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of zinc supplement in improving the symptoms of burning mouth syndrome. Patients and Methods: Sixty patients were enrolled in this study; they were randomly divided to two groups. Patients in the intervention group received replacement therapy twice daily, which continued for three months. In the control group, placebo capsules, which were completely similar to zinc sulfate capsules, were administered two times daily. Results: Burning sensation severity in the two groups after the intervention was significantly different (P = 0.001). Conclusions: It can be concluded that zinc supplement might decrease the intensity of burning mouth syndrome in patients with zinc deficiency.

A Meta-Analysis on the Efficacy of Zinc in Oral Mucositis during Cancer Chemo and/or Radiotherapy—An Evidence-Based Approach

“…Approximately 60% of patients receiving radiotherapy develop oral mucositis and the incidence may increase up to 90% with concurrent chemotherapy (6). Symptoms such as a burning sensation and pain are due to loss and thinning of the mucosal epithelial barrier during the treatment, transforming into a painful, debilitating condition, depriving the patient of nutrition and oral care, and potentially acting as a source of infection (2,5,7,8).…”

Systematic review of natural and miscellaneous agents for the management of oral mucositis in cancer patients and clinical practice guidelines—part 1: vitamins, minerals, and nutritional supplements

“…There was a single RCT assessing systemic zinc administration for the prevention of OM in patients receiving CT for solid and hematologic malignancies [21]. This study concluded zinc was ineffective.…”

Prophylaxis for mucositis induced by ambulatory chemotherapy: systematic review

“…Only one article in the sample analysed interventions involving zinc sulphate (Arbabi‐Kalati et al . ), amifostine (Stokman et al . ), chewing gum (Gandemer et al .…”

“…The WHO Oral Toxicity Scale (World Health Organization ) was the most commonly used and was adopted by 12 articles (Arbabi‐Kalati et al . , Pitten et al . , Stokman et al .…”

“…A study by Arbabi‐Kalati et al . () evaluated the effect of zinc sulphate in preventing oral mucositis. Although the results suggested that 220 mg zinc sulphate capsules daily is effective in preventing oral mucositis and the study had an acceptable quality level, its small sample size was a limiting factor.…”