Interventions for the treatment of burning mouth syndrome

There is insufficient evidence to show the effect of painkillers, hormones or antidepressants for 'burning mouth syndrome' but there is some evidence that learning to cope with the disorder, anticonvulsants and alpha-lipoic acid may help.
A burning sensation on the lips, tongue or within the mouth is called 'burning mouth syndrome' when the cause is unknown and it is not a symptom of another disease. Other symptoms include dryness and altered taste and it is common in people with anxiety, depression and personality disorders. Women after menopause are at highest risk of this syndrome. Painkillers, hormone therapies, antidepressants have all been tried as possible cures. This review did not find enough evidence to show their effects. Treatments designed to help people cope with the discomfort and the use of alpha-lipoic acid may be beneficial. More research is needed.

This is a Cochrane review abstract and plain language summary, prepared and maintained by The Cochrane Collaboration, currently published in The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2009 Issue 3, Copyright Â© 2009 The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.. The full text of the review is available in The Cochrane Library (ISSN 1464-780X).
This record should be cited as: Zakrzewska JM, Forssell H, Glenny A-M. Interventions for the treatment of burning mouth syndrome. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2004, Issue 4. Art. No.: CD002779. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD002779.pub2

This version first published online: July 23. 2001
Last assessed as up-to-date: November 15. 2004