[Burning mouth syndrome and depression: a case report]

We present a 63-year-old male patient with major depression, characterised by prominent somatic symptoms localised especially around the mouth, whose complaints started just after a prostate operation. The symptoms consisting of burning in the mouth, pain, dry mouth (xerostomia), an unpleasant and strange feeling of taste and itching, are all consistent with burning mouth syndrome. Burning mouth syndrome is a common disorder, usually affecting elderly females, characterised by intractable pain and burning in the oral cavity, evident especially in the tongue, together with a normal mouth mucosa. In the scientific literature a variety of terms are used to describe similar symptoms, such as glossodynia, glossopyrosis, stomatodynia and oral dysestesia. Most patients suffer from the syndrome for a long time, ranging from months up to years. The onset was reported to be gradual for most of the subjects, although many patients relate the onset of symptoms to previous dental procedures or to a previous medical illness. Burning mouth syndrome has a multifactorial etiology. Anxiety disorder, hypochondriasis, conversion disorder and especially depression may be considered amongst the psychological factors responsible for this situation. The psychological findings in burning mouth syndrome patients may be either the consequence of the chronic pain condition or its cause. It is well known that those patients had a relatively high percentage of psychiatric or psychological treatment in the past and/or present. After excluding organic factors, depression should be considered in old patients with predominant mouth complaints.