Brief Perspective on Burning Mouth Syndrome: A Review.

Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) also called as stomatopyrosis, is an enigmatic disorder causing chronic pain of the intraoral soft tissues. It is a distinctive nosological entity including all forms of burning sensation in the mouth and described as stinging sensation or pain in association with oral mucosa that appears clinically normal in the absence of local or systemic diseases or alterations. The etiology of BMS is not known although a number of factors have been suggested. These include hormonal changes associated with menopause, allergic reactions, chronic low-grade trauma, genetic polymorphisms, psychosocial and personality disorders namely alexithymic traits, cancer phobia somatisation, obsession-compulsion disorders, etc. Among the proposed causative factors, psychological disorders have been frequently associated. These findings suggest a need for an interdisciplinary treatment which apart from dental therapy demands a certain kind of psychotherapy. A number of treatment modalities have been used, but they are found to be variable, unpredictable and outcome is often discouraging. Nevertheless, newer forms of therapy are being described in the literature. This presentation will highlight the various strategies employed in diagnosis and newer modalities of the treatment for such patients.

Evaluation of Efficacy of Ultrasonography in the Assessment of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation in Subjects with Myositis and Myofascial Pain

BACKGROUND: The study aimed to determine if ultrasonography of masseter can be used to evaluate the outcome of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) in subjects with temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) such as myositis and myofascial pain. METHODS: Fifteen TMD subjects with myofascial pain/myositis who satisfied the RDC/McNeil criteria were included in the study. All the subjects were administered TENS therapy for a period of 6 days (30 minutes per session). The mouth opening (in millimeters) and severity of pain (visual analogue scale score) and ultrasonographic thickness of the masseter (in millimeters) in the region of trigger/tender areas was assessed in all the subjects both prior and post TENS therapy. A comparison of the pre-treatment and post-treatment values of the VAS score, mouth opening and masseter thickness was done with the help of a t-test. RESULTS: There was a significant reduction in the thickness of masseter muscle (P = 0.028) and VAS scores (P < 0.001) post TENS therapy. There was also a significant improvement in the mouth opening (P = 0.011) post TENS therapy. CONCLUSIONS: In the present study, ultrasonography was found to be an effective measuring tool in the assessment of TENS therapy in subjects with myositis and myofascial pain.