General health status of a sample of patients with burning mouth syndrome: A case-control study

Background The relationship of burning mouth syndrome (BMS) with possible alterations in patients' general health has been subject of study and controversy during the last years. Objective To analyse the general health status of patients with BMS, comparing it with a control group. Methods A case-control study was conducted to compare the diseases, medications, blood test alterations, disturbances in general health, oral quality of life, xerostomia, sleep quality and psychological status between a group of 20 patients with BMS and a group of 40 patients who did not suffer from this disease. Results BMS patients suffered more comorbidities and consumed more medications than controls. More mental, behavioural or neurodevelopmental disorders in BMS patients were found, consuming more drugs for nervous and cardiovascular systems, and alimentary tract and metabolism. Lower levels of iron and higher levels of folic acid were found in BMS patients compared to controls. General health status, oral health impact, sleepiness, psychological status and xerostomia levels were also significantly worsened in BMS patients than in controls. Conclusions BMS patients presented a worsened health status over controls suffering more comorbidities, consuming more medications and showing adverse results in all the health variables analysed in this study.