Clinical characteristics of male and young female patients complaining of burning mouth symptoms

Abstract

Burning mouth symptoms are a painful burning sensation or other dysesthesias of the oral mucosa with no visible mucosal abnormalities upon clinical examination. The symptoms are known to occur predominantly in women of older age after menopause. In some rare cases, however, such symptoms may also appear in men or young women. There is no information on the characteristics of male or young female patients with burning mouth symptoms. The purpose of this study is to determine the clinical characteristics of male and relatively young female patients complaining of burning mouth symptoms compared with typical post-menopausal female patients. A total of 21 relatively young female patients (age: ≤45 years) and 22 male patients (no age limit) with a burning sensation in the mouth without any visible signs of oral mucosal diseases were included in the experimental groups. Sixty typical burning mouth patients (post-menopausal females, age: ≥50 years) without oral mucosal diseases were included as a control group. All individuals in the 3 groups were subjected to clinical evaluations including an interview, a comprehensive questionnaire, a simplified psychological evaluation (SCL-90-R

Symptom Checklist-90-Revision), blood tests, and a measurement of salivary flow rate. The male group reported taste problems less commonly and less severely than the control group. The young female group complained of paresthesia and sore throat more commonly and more severely than the control group. The flow rate of unstimulated whole saliva was significantly higher in the young female group than the control group. The flow rate of stimulated whole saliva was significantly higher in the male group than the control group. The male group reported discomfort of the tongue less commonly than the control group. None of the 9 symptom dimensions of the SCL-90-R were significantly different among the 3 groups. But, young female patients were significantly more likely to score above 60 for ANX than the male group. The percentage of patients with abnormal blood tests and taking medications due to comorbid diseases were highest in the male group and lowest in the young female group. In conclusion, male and young female patients with burning mouth symptoms showed different characteristics compared with typical post-menopausal female patients.