title: Burning mouth syndrome: correlation of treatment to clinical variables of the disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is a complex disorder with a still uncertain etiopathogenesis. A number of treatments have been used in application to BMS, though without clearly successful results. The present study compares the improvement in BMS obtained as a result of different treatment modalities in relation to the clinical characteristics of the patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective cohort study was made of 115 patients with BMS (109 females and 6 males) subjected to different treatments with a view to improving the symptoms. The clinical variables examined included the duration of the disorder, the location of the burning sensation, its daily variations and relationship with meals. The parameters were measured using a visual analog scale (VAS) applied at baseline and again after two weeks of treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean patient age was 70 ± 11.41 years, and the mean duration of the syndrome was 7.16 ± 2.63 years. The tongue was the most frequently affected location. Anxiolytic treatment afforded the best results (p < 0.001), and the patients with the shortest duration of disease showed the best improvement with treatment (p = 0.005).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The greatest treatment efficacy corresponded to anxiolytic drugs, and treatment was more effective when introduced early after the diagnosis of BMS.
authors: Stomatology Unit. Dr. Peset University Hospital, Valencia, Spain.
authors: Javier
authors: J
authors: Silvestre-Rangil
authors: Francisco-Javier
authors: FJ
authors: Silvestre
authors: Carmen
authors: C
authors: Tamarit-Santafé
authors: Daniel
authors: D
authors: Bautista
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002054:Burning Mouth Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies