Burning mouth syndrome is a condition characterized by burning sensations of the 
oral cavity in the absence of physical abnormalities of the mucosa or a 
detectable underlying medical disorder. It is a multifactorial disorder with 
unclear etiology, affecting predominatly middle-aged women. Multiple approaches 
to treatment have been described in the literature, with few controlled clinical 
trials regarding their efficacy. The objectives of this retrospective study were 
to: 1. determine the epidemiologic characteristics of BMS patients referred to 
an oral medicine practice; 2. determine if BMS classification correlates with 
response to treatment; 3. determine the efficacy of a variety of known therapies 
for BMS. A database was constructed from the charts of 150 consecutive patients 
diagnosed with BMS; and these charts were reviewed. Patients were classified 
according to previously published criteria for BMS. Presumed etiologies were 
grouped into depression/anxiety-associated; hematinic deficiencies, including 
iron, folate and vitamin B complex; oral habits: and idiopathic BMS. Treatment 
approaches were divided into seven categories: soft desensitizing appliance; 
tricyclic antidepressants (TCA); benzodiazepines (BZD); topical analgesics; 
hematinic supplements; habit awareness counseling; and multi-modal therapy 
(combining two or more of the above). Improvement was recorded using a zero to 
100% VAS scale and classified as no relief (0%); mild (0-40%); 
meaningful/moderate (41-80%); and profound relief (81-100%). Burning mouth 
syndrome without any identifiable cause (idiopathic) was diagnosed in 33 
patients (46.6%). Patients were followed up at one month (4 weeks) after the 
initial visit. Nine patients (12.7%) reported profound relief; 17 patients 
(23.9%) reported meaningful relief; 39 patients (54.9%) reported mild relief. 
This retrospective review showed no significant correlation between 
classification of BMS and response to therapy. The most effective treatment 
modalities were habit awareness, followed by TCAs.