Increased prevalence of geographic tongue in burning mouth complaints: a retrospective study

Objectives The objective of this study was to assess the frequency of geographic tongue and fissured tongue (GFT) in patients with burning mouth syndrome (BMS). Our hypothesis was that benign soft tissue changes to the tongue, such as GFT, are associated with BMS. Study Design Retrospective review of 161 patients with BMS and 87 TMJ dysfunction cases as control. Frequency of GFT and demographics for both groups was assessed. Results In the BMS group, 26.7% of the subjects were diagnosed with GFT, whereas in the control group, 11.5% had GFT ( P P Conclusions Our results demonstrate a higher than expected prevalence of GFT among patients with BMS compared with a control group of patients with TMJ. In males, GFT may be a significant predictor for BMS.