Trazodone in burning mouth pain: a placebo-controlled, double-blind study.

AIMS: An 8-week parallel, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial evaluated the efficacy of the antidepressant trazodone in the treatment of chronic burning mouth pain. METHODS: Thirty-seven carefully selected women aged 39 to 71 (mean 58.6 years) were randomized to receive either 200 mg of trazodone or a placebo in a similar manner. Pain and pain-related symptoms were evaluated on a visual analogue scale and other measures at 0, 2, 4, and 8 weeks. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the groups in treatment effects for pain or pain-related symptoms. Seven patients in the trazodone group and 2 in the placebo group failed to complete the trial because of side effects. The most common side effects were dizziness and drowsiness. CONCLUSION: In this controlled trial, trazodone failed to relieve burning mouth pain.

Effects of xylitol, xylitol-sorbitol, and placebo chewing gums on the plaque of habitual xylitol consumers.

Xylitol reduces plaque but the reduction mechanism is largely unknown. The main aim of the present study was to determine whether the xylitol-induced reduction in the amount of plaque and the number of mutans streptococci could be demonstrated in subjects with (presumably) high levels of xylitol-resistant (XR; not inhibited by xylitol) mutans streptococci acquired following previous xylitol consumptions. 37 healthy dental students participated in the double-blind study. All subjects had been uncontrolled, habitual consumers of xylitol-containing products for at least 1 yr before the study. A 1-month washout period was followed by a 2-week test period during which either xylitol, xylitol-sorbitol or unsweetened chewing gum base was chewed 3-5 x a day. Plaque and saliva samples were collected at baseline and at the 2-week point for determination of the amount of plaque, microbiological variables, and hydrolytic enzymes. Mixtures of xylitol and sorbitol seemed to perform equally well with respect to reduction in the amount of plaque but not the number of mutans streptococci. Thus, polyols were the active ingredients of chewing gums able to modulate the amount of plaque and its microbial composition. Xylitol reduced plaque with a mechanism which appeared not to be associated with the study-induced changes in the proportion (%) of mutans streptococci in plaque, the number of salivary mutans streptococci, the proportion of XR strains in plaque or saliva, or the hydrolytic enzyme activities of plaque.

Protein composition, adhesion, and agglutination properties of saliva in burning mouth syndrome.

Resting and stimulated whole saliva and parotid saliva of men and pre- and post-menopausal women with burning mouth syndrome (BMS) and their matched controls were studied. Women with BMS had slightly, but not significantly, higher flow rates than their controls. The total protein concentration in stimulated saliva of women with BMS was significantly lower than that of controls. This difference was not associated with the flow rate. The proportional amount of sialic acid, used as an indicator of mucin concentration, was higher in subjects with BMS than in their controls. SDS-PAGE showed no consistent differences in the protein profiles of saliva, nor were any differences observed in the adhesion or agglutination assays between subjects with BMS and their matched controls. Thus, the present results indicate that BMS is not associated with a decrease in the protecting and lubricating properties of saliva.

Burning mouth in a Finnish adult population.

Burning mouth syndrome is an oral pain disorder with a prevalence of 5-18% in patient materials. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of Burning mouth syndrome in a representative sample of the general adult population. Altogether 431 subjects (237 females, 194 males) participated in the study. Subjects were questioned about the experience of prolonged burning sensation; the site, severity, pattern, duration and possible associations of the onset of the burning sensation, and a thorough clinical examination was performed. In all, 15% of the subjects had experienced prolonged oral burning but a half of them had some clinically observable oral mucosal lesion or oral candidosis. The prevalence of the complaint was significantly higher in females than in males.