Evaluating Burning Mouth Syndrome as a Comorbidity of Atypical Odontalgia: The Impact on Pain Experiences

Objective This study aimed to: (1) investigate the differences in clinical characteristics of patients between two groups: with Atypical Odontalgia (AO) only and with Burning Mouth Syndrome (BMS) (2) assess psychiatric comorbidity factor's influence on patients’ experience. Method Medical records, psychiatric referral forms of patients visiting the Psychosomatic Dentistry Clinic of Tokyo Medical and Dental University between 2013-2016 were reviewed. The final sample included two groups of 355 patients: AO-only (n=272) and AO-BMS patients (n=83). Clinicodemographic (gender, age, comorbid psychiatric disorders, history of headache and sleep disturbance) and pain variables (duration of illness, pain intensity and severity of accompanying depression) were collected. Initial pain assessment was done using short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire, and depressive state was determined with Zung Self-rating Depression Scale. Results The average age, female-ratio and sleep disturbance prevalence in AO-only group were significantly lower than those in AO-BMS group. AO-BMS patients rated overall pain score and present pain intensity significantly higher than AO-only patients (p = 0.033, p = 0.034, respectively), emphasizing sharp (p = 0.049), hot-burning (p = 0.000) and splitting (p = 0.003) characteristics of pain. Patients having comorbid psychiatric disorders had higher proportion of sleep disturbance in both group and depressive state in AO-only group. Conclusions AO-BMS patients have different epidemiological characteristics, sleep quality and pain experiences compared to AO-only patients. The presence of psychiatric comorbidities in both groups may exacerbate sleep quality. We suggest BMS as a comorbid oral disorder in AO patients contributing to a more intensively painful experience. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.