Analysis of Relationship between Burning Mouth Syndrome and Abnormality of Serum Examination

Park, Hanaro; Kim, Yewon; Jeong, Woo Jin; Ahn, Soon Hyun

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
The objective of this study was to determine whether the serum levels of zinc, vitamin B12, folic acid, iron, and fungus were correlated with symptoms of burning mouth syndrome (BMS) and to analyze the relationship between treatment responses and the results from serum examination.
SUBJECTS AND METHOD
We analyzed data from 284 patients whose serum examination results recorded responses to treatment were available from June 2004 to November 2011. A total of 219 patients experienced burning sensation, while 65 patients experienced only globus symptoms or voice changes.
RESULTS
Of the patients who experienced burning sensations, 5 (2.3%) had vitamin B12 deficiency, 23 (10.5%) had iron deficiency, 40 (24%) had zinc deficiency, but no patients had folic acid concentrations below the reference range. A total of 44 patients (25%) were fungus-positive. The comparison of the experimental and control treatment groups revealed that iron-deficient patients and fungal-positive patients were more frequently found in the experimental group (p=0.023 and p=0.010, respectively). Abnormalities in the serum or physical examinations were observed in 126 patients (57.5%). Symptomatic treatments were performed for both groups, which corrected abnormalities in serum examinations.
CONCLUSION
The rates of fungus positivity and iron deficiency were higher in the BMS group. However, we did not identify a correlation between the response to treatment and serum examination of the analyzed elements or fungus examination. The total secondary oral burning rate was found to affect treatment modality.