Acta Odontológica Colombiana (Jul 2013)
Burning mouth syndrome: literature review
Abstract
Burning Mouth Syndrome (BMS) is a disease entity that involves the soft tissues of the oropharynx and is etiologically influenced by neuropsychological factors. Its clinical presentation is not associated with significant mucosal abnormalities visually, which makes it particularly difficult to diagnose. Despite being widely described in the literature many clinicians are unaware of this condition generating sub-diagnoses, depletion of both patient and health system and therefore ineffective management of the disease, affecting even the poor quality of life patients already suffering from the disease. Objetive: Provide some tools for clinical diagnosis and management of BMS based on scientific evidence, and build on it, awareness of the importance of remaining alert to the presence of apparently unknown diseases. Methodology: A generalized search of scientific articles that included literature reviews, case reports and case-control studies published from 1985 through 2013 was performed. The selected articles should address the burning mouth syndrome and not just the description of any of its signs or symptoms. The selected items included the description of the disease, etiology, symptomatic characterization, epidemiology and treatment options. The databases searched were MEDLINE and Science Direct. Conclusions: There is no definite consensus on the etiology of the disease, for which the literature does not clearly define what is the most predictable treatment alternative in terms of efficiency in the management of the syndrome and therefore the lack of randomized controlled trials it is evident. The literature focuses primarily on providing clinicians the ability to be alert to the presence of characteristic signs and symptoms of the disease in order to make a proper diagnosis and leaves important light to the need for relevant scientific developments regarding the treatment of thereof.
