Support Group as a Management Modality for Burning Mouth Syndrome: A Randomized Prospective Study

Abstract

We aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a support group in the management of burning mouth syndrome (BMS). The cohort included 22 adult patients with BMS who attended the oral and maxillofacial department of a tertiary medical center in 2014–2019 and agreed to participate in the study. Eleven patients were assigned to a support group and took part in 90 min sessions held once weekly for 4 weeks (a total of 4 sessions), and the remainder continued their previous individual BMS management routine (control group). All patients completed a life-quality questionnaire before and 3 months after the group sessions. Scores for each group were compared between the two time points with a Wilcoxon signed-rank test. There was a significant decrease in scores for malaise (p = 0.041), total pain (p = 0.046), and difficulty enjoying food (p = 0.026) before and after the group sessions in the study group. No significant changes were found in the control group in any of the parameters examined. A group support can alleviate pain and other clinical symptoms of BMS. Further longer-term prospective studies are needed to corroborate our findings.

Keywords

• burning mouth syndrome
• support group
• life-quality questionnaire