Psychological aspects of patients with burning mouth syndrome

This article reports the results of a psychological questionnaire survey of 184 patients who have burning mouth syndrome. The results are compared with normative data obtained in the Netherlands. In general, it may be concluded that in a large number of patients with glossodynia, psychological aspects such as anxiety, depression, and neurotic tendencies are of great importance. However, it must be emphasized that this conclusion may not be interpreted as support for a psychogenic cause of the syndrome or for a strong psychological factor in the etiology of glossodynia.