Past Issues

Patients with burning mouth syndrome (BMS) have a burning sensation in mouth, including lips, tongue, as well as soft and hard palate without gross oral-mucosal abnormality. BMS usually presents itself among perimenopausal or menopausal women in their 50’s to 70’s of age. Dysgeusia and xerostomia usually accompany BMS, in as many as 46% and 75.7% of cases, respectively [1]. Comorbidities of BMS include psychiatric disorders, such as depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, personality disorder, and somatoform disorder [2]. Mignogna et al. (2005) reported that an average of 3.1% medical or dental practitioners misdiagnose the oral pain in each patient. Because of the erroneous stigma about visiting psychiatrists, these patients often fi rst present themselves in general clinics and are seldom evaluated formally by psychiatrists or psychological experts. Psychiatric intervention should be considered as a part of the management plan, not merely because of the possibility of misdiagnosis, but also the necessity of a multidisciplinary approach on the biopsychosocial basis [3].