Burning mouth complaints: clinical characteristics of a Brazilian sample.
OBJECTIVE
Evaluation of the clinical characteristics of burning mouth complaints (BMC) in a series of Brazilian patients referred to a large teaching hospital.


METHODS
66 patients with burning mouth complaints were evaluated through a standardized protocol.


RESULTS
56 women and 10 men were examined, ranging in age from 35-83 years. The primary location of the complaints was reported to be the tongue. Thirty-six patients reported a precipitating event. The mean VAS pain levels were 7.5 in women and 6.11 in men. The average estradiol levels in women were low (<13 pg/ml); 80% of all patients reported a concomitant chronic disease, 55% of all patients wore total dentures, 54% of all patients reported subjective xerostomia, 48% of all patients reported sleep disturbances and 66% reported phantom taste. No statistical differences were found between groups with or without a precipitating event in VAS: (p=0.139), in the Number of Words Chosen (NWC) (p=0.259) and Pain Rating Index (PRI) (p=0.276) sections of the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ).


CONCLUSIONS
The existence of systemic comorbidities, self-reported sleep disturbances and taste alterations indicates possible correlations and the need for a careful systemic evaluation of each patient; there were no differences between patients with and without precipitating events.
Nasri
Cibele
C
Medical College, University of São Paulo -Dentistry.
Teixeira
Manoel Jacobson
MJ
Okada
Massako
M
Formigoni
Gilberto
G
Heir
Gary
G
Siqueira
José Tadeu Tesseroli de
JT
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001938:Brazil; D002054:Burning Mouth Syndrome / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires