LOW-LEVEL LASER IN THE TREATMENT OF THE BURNING MOUTH SYNDROME: A CLINICAL REPORT

Abstract

The Burning Mouth Syndrome is complex and painful intra-oral affection characterised by burning sensation of oral mucosa. This study is aimed at reporting a case of a 87-year-old Caucasian female patient who attended the stomatology service, at a public university in Rio de Janeiro, complaining that her tongue was “burning” for more than one year despite the absence of a cause, although such a sensation worsened during consumption of acid food as well as over the day. In the anamnesis, she reported no metabolic disorders or use of medications, and no oral alteration explaining such burning symptoms was observed on clinical examination. The diagnostic hypothesis was burning mouth syndrome, which was confirmed because of the absence of both clinical findings and serological changes in the exams. The procedure consisted of applying low-level laser on the tongue in punctual and scanning modes during two months (15 sessions), period in which the clinical picture become stable and significant remission of the symptom was observed (initial and final analogical visual scales = 8 and 2, respectively). In this way, laser therapy was shown to be an efficient therapeutic alternative in the treatment of the present case of Burning Mouth Syndrome, thus emphasising the importance of ruling out other morbidities prior to considering the diagnosis of this condition.