Burning mouth syndrome in diabetic patient: an update on treatment methods

Backgrounds/Aim

Burning mouth syndrome is a chronic pain syndrome that mainly affects middle-aged/old women with hormonal changes or psychological disorders.

The aim of this review is to emphasize in the multifactorial origin often idiopathic, and its prognosis and treatment especially in diabetic patients.

Methods

International literature is reviewed and a variety of chronic oral symptoms are described. Clinical features include pain, dysgeusia, xerostomia, sensory anomalies, oral findings, mood changes and alterations in personality.

Results-conclusion

The correlation between diabetes mellitus and BMS is still controversial. It has been suggested that type II diabetes mellitus plays a role in BMS development and a link between the type of insulin used for the diabetes treatment and BMS has also been proposed. In contrast, other studies report a lack of association between these two conditions. A possible explanation for this controversy may be that these diabetic patients were erroneously classified as BMS. In fact, at the time of the above studies, a lack of strict criteria for BMS diagnosis could have affected the selection of the patients. For instance, burning oral complaints in diabetic subjects, who are more prone to oral infections, are probably caused by oral candidiasis. Owing to the large variety of associated factors, the protocol for BMS management is complex. An effective approach for these patients should be based on a strict collaboration among different oral medicine specialists. Patient management involves a differential diagnosis for BMS and the discrimination between “Primary“ and “Secondary BMS“ based on the identification of possible etiologic factors for the syndrome. Although a large variety of drugs, medications, and miscellaneous treatments has been proposed in BMS, the treatment management of this syndrome is still not satisfactory, and there is no definitive cure. BMS patients have shown a good response to long-term therapy with systemic regimens of anti-depressants and anxiolytics..