OBJECTIVE: Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) has been attributed secondarily to 
diabetes, poor glycemic control, and diabetic neuropathy. The prevalence and 
predictor factors of BMS were compared in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and 
nondiabetic subjects.
STUDY DESIGN: An assessment of 371 adult T1DM subjects and 261 control subjects 
participating in a cross-sectional epidemiological study of oral health 
complications of diabetes was performed. Subjects were participants of the 
Pittsburgh Epidemiology of Diabetes Complications study. Prevalence of BMS was 
determined by response to the following questions: "Do you now or in the last 
month had any persistent uncomfortable sensations in your mouth or tongue? If 
yes, would you describe the feeling as tingling, burning, sore, numb, or other?"
RESULTS: Burning mouth syndrome symptoms were reported by 28 T1DM and control 
subjects (4.6%). Eleven had oral pathologies that might explain the BMS, 
including atrophy of the tongue papillae, fissured tongue, denture stomatitis, 
and candidiasis. The prevalence of BMS within the two groups with no pathologies 
was similar; 12/371 (3.2%) vs. 5/233 (2.1%). Multivariate analyses of the 12 
T1DM subjects with BMS found significant associations for female gender (P=.042) 
and a diagnosis of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (P=.024).
CONCLUSIONS: In this T1DM population, BMS or related discomforts occurred 
slightly more frequently than in the control group. Symptomatic T1DM subjects 
were more likely to be female who had also developed peripheral neuropathy. 
These findings and other similarities between BMS and diabetic peripheral 
neuropathy suggest that a neuropathic process may be an underlying source of BMS 
in some patients who have no apparent oral abnormality.