Primary Burning Mouth Syndrome: A Questionnaire Study of Neuropathic and Psychological Components

The pathophysiology of primary burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is extensively debated but poorly understood.

The aim of the study was to evaluate neuropathic and psychological components of BMS in patients with primary BMS.

Subjects were recruited through a consultation dedicated to mouth diseases, during which a diagnosis of primary BMS was assessed. Patients answered the abbreviated Douleur Neuropathique 4 questionnaire (DN4i), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the questionnaire de la douleur de Saint-Antoine (QDSA), the French version of the McGill pain questionnaire.

Thirty-five patients with primary BMS were included in the study: 31 % of them had a DN4i score in favour of neuropathic pain and 34.3 % had a HADS overall score in favour of anxiety and depressive disorder.

Both physiological and psychological aspects of BMS need to be actively investigated by clinicians to successfully manage these patients. The physiological and psychological aspects are not mutually exclusive. The DN4i and the HADS are easy-to-use tools and could be used in an initial assessment of BMS patients.