Burning mouth is a clinical condition characterized by a burning sensation and chronic pain in the oral mucosa, which cannot be ascribed to alterations in the mucous membranous structure of tissues of the oral cavity.
The most controversial aspect of BMS is the fact that this syndrome is characterized by a single symptom, stomatopyrosis, which can potentially manifest during several clinical conditions (nutritional disorders, hormonal imbalance, diabetes, etc).
The frustrating aspect of this clinical condition is the difficulty in finding the motivating factor and, in consequence, an appropriate therapeutic protocol.
On the basis of these considerations, a perspective study was carried out with the aim of assessing if, and in what percentage, a treatment with an essential oil mouthwash (menthol, eucalyptol, thymol) is able to reduce the set of symptoms of patients affected by BMS.
21 patients presenting a set of symptoms related to BMS were recruited.
Essential BMS was diagnosed in 18 of these subjects.
By means of a ?single blind? method, patients were asked to use for 3 months, every other day:
a) Essential oil mouthwash (3 oral rinses for 60 sec/day)
b) Purified saline solution (same dosage and mode of administration).
On the basis of the researches conducted so far, it is possible to conclude that the action of essential oils seems to produce positive effects on the control of the acute symptoms associated with the clinical condition of BMS.
KEY WORDS
BMS; ESSENTIAL OILS; STOMATOPYROSIS.