Mouth Burning - Burning Mouth Syndrome Articles

From the Rodale book, Symptoms, Their Causes & Cures:
Mouth Burning
Mother Nature, Inc.
WHEN TO SEE YOUR DOCTOR
* The burning sensation is accompanied by a sore on or discoloration of the tongue, cheeks or gums.
* Burning seems to be located near, below or above dentures or a partial or on the tongue.
* The burning sensation continues for more than a week.
What Your Symptom Is Telling You
Bite into a jalape?±o pepper and you'll get an idea of what it's like to have a burning mouthÇƒÓor at least one of the variations. Sometimes it doesn't feel like fire at all. Some people say it feels like a hot knife is being jabbed into their mouths. Others say it feels like their mouths, tongues or gum tissue is shrinking and withering up like wet rawhide left to dry out in the desert sun. Still others describe it as an abrasive, sandpaper feeling.
Whatever it feels like, you know it if you have it, and you're probably frustrated because none of the doctors you've seen knows what to do about it. And if you're like many people who have this irritating sensation, you have seen several doctors for it.
"People who come to me with burning mouth usually have a long, complex pattern of seeing doctors, dentists, nutritionists and psychiatrists for this," says Louis M. Abbey, D.M.D., professor of oral pathology at Virginia Commonwealth University/Medical College of Virginia School of Dentistry in Richmond. "When no physical cause is found, they're often told it's all in their heads or they're branded neurotic. And some of them actually do border on being neurotic because of the pain and stress of not finding a reason or cure for the burning."
For all but about 5 percent of the people with burning mouth, no cause can be found, Dr. Abbey says. And most are women at or past the age of menopause and otherwise in good physical, mental and dental shape. "The places of burning in their mouths vary, and there's often no demonstrable lesion you can see," says Dr. Abbey. "But I'm convinced most of them have a real complaint."
An oral infection like candidiasis is one real complaint that can cause burning mouth, according to R. Gregg Settle, Ph.D., research associate in the department of otolaryngology/head and neck surgery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia. So are conditions like uncontrolled diabetes, food sensitivities, nutrient deficiencies and a lack of saliva. Improperly fitting dentures or an allergy to the denture material also may produce a burning mouth.
Symptom Relief
Many doctors may examine an individual for only one probable cause of burning mouth, Dr. Settle says. "Any attempt to look at one treatment to the exclusion of others is unlikely to succeed," he says. "I suspect burning mouth is caused by a lot of different things that converge into that final symptom." Sometimes therapy focusing on a sole cause is successful; sometimes not. In the meantime, here are some things you can do to put out the fire.
Get wet. Extreme dryness in the mouth may feel like a burning, according to Michael W. Dodds, Ph.D., who holds a bachelor of dental surgery and is an assistant professor in the Department of Community Dentistry at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. Certain medications, illness, aging and radiation therapy can sap the salivary glands of their punch. (See Mouth Dryness below for remedies to wet your whistle.)
Ask about hormones. Many women with burning mouth are near menopause or actually going through it. For this reason, a number of doctors have experimented with estrogen replacement therapy to relieve the symptom. The results have been mixed, Dr. Settle says. Ask your doctor whether this therapy is appropriate for you.
Diet may do it. A food sensitivity or allergy may ignite your mouth, Dr. Abbey says. "You have to look at your whole dietÇƒÓnew or unusual foods, new medications, new drinks, a new toothpaste, new chewing gum." If you've recently started eating a new food or using a new product, try eliminating it and see if that helps, he advises.
Put out the flames with B vitamins. A deficiency of virtually any of the B vitamins or iron-deficiency anemia could be causing the burning," Dr. Abbey says. (This is uncommon in America.) Try taking a daily multivitamin supplement and see if it helps.