Diagnostic Values of the Measurement of Fungiform Papillae in Patients with Burning Mouth Syndrome

Abstract

Objectives This study evaluated the diagnostic values of measuring the number of fungiform papillae in patients with burning mouth syndrome (BMS). Methods Seventy participants (35 BMS patients and 35 Healthy control) participated in this study. The number of fungiform papillae (FP) was measured on the anterior part of the tongue within an area of 9 mm2 using a digital camera. The subjects were evaluated on their yin deficiency and blood stasis conditions using the Yin-Deficiency Questionnaire (YDQ) and Blood Stasis Questionnaire (BSQ). Moreover, the severities of subjective tongue pain in the BMS patients were assessed using Visual Analog Scale. Results There were significant differences in the number of FP and the YDQ and BSQ scores between the two groups. The number of FP and the YDQ scores in the BMS group showed statistically significant correlations with the VAS score of tongue pain. In the bivariate logistic regression analysis, the factor that most strongly contributed to BMS was the number of FP. The optimal cut-off value of the number of fungiform papillae was calculated as 5.5 with 71.4% sensitivity and 82.9% specificity. There was no statistically significant correlation between the number of FP and the YDQ or BSQ score. Conclusions According to these findings, measuring the number of FP could be a valuable evaluation indicator of BMS. Keywords: burning mouth syndrome, fungiform papillae, Yin-deficiency