Use of a combination of N-acetylcysteine and clonazepam to treat burning mouth syndrome.

Objective This study was intended to evaluate the clinical efficacy of a combination of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and clonazepam for treatment of burning mouth syndrome (BMS). Study Design A total of 160 patients with BMS were divided into 3 groups: group 1 received NAC (400 mg/d), group 2 received clonazepam (0.5 mg/d), and group 3 received both NAC and clonazepam. We evaluated symptom relief after 8 weeks of treatment using a visual analog scale (VAS). To assess oral health-related quality of life, we used the validated Korean version of an oral health impact profile (OHIP-14K). Results The overall response rates of the 3 groups were 60.3%, 51.3%, and 80.0%, respectively. The mean VAS and OHIP-14K scores significantly decreased in all groups after the 8-week treatments. The VAS score changes were −12.2 ± 19.5, −10.0 ± 14.1, and −21.0 ± 24.6, respectively (P = .001), in the 3 groups and the OHIP-14K changes were −2.3 ± 9.2, −4.4 ± 6.9, and −8.7 ± 10.3, respectively (P = .020). Group 3 showed significantly larger differences in VAS and OHIP-14K scores than group 2, before and after treatment. Conclusions In the treatment of BMS, the NAC/clonazepam combination therapy was more effective than either monotherapy.