CLINICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT OF SARS-COV-2 INFECTION IN BURNING-MOUTH SYNDROME PATIENTS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Abstract

Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is a chronic disease characterized by the presence of persistent oral mucosa pain, mainly burning sensation without any detectable clinical cause or modified general investigations. Coronavirus infections, in some patients, caused sensations of oral burning, of a neuropathic nature, which mimicked the symptoms of BMS. In addition, the psychiatric manifestations associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have exacerbated the symptoms of patients already diagnosed with burning mouth syndrome. Based on these observations, we conducted a longitudinal study to assess the changes in depressive and anxiety symptoms in BMS patients during the pandemics. We recruited two groups of age and gender-matched BMS patients. The first group included patients with BMS diagnosed with coronavirus infection and the second one without coronavirus infection. The study concluded that in patients with coronavirus infection there was an intensification of anxiety-depressive symptoms more pronounced in the first 6 months after infection (duration being associated with the infection severity and long-COVID symptoms), followed by a recurrence or even decrease in symptoms compared to the initial examination. Oral symptomatology had a similar evolution, the intensity being determined by the severity of the COVID-19 infection episode and by the prolonged use of antivirals. The lack of a larger number of studies and patients with BMS and COVID-19 infection limited the possibility of comparative analyses.

Keywords

• burning mouth syndrome
• coronavirus infection
• oral burning sensation