Psychostomatology: The psychosomatic status and approaches for the management of patients with inflammatory oral mucosal diseases

Abstract

Psychological factors might be involved in some oral mucosal diseases, such as recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) and oral lichen planus (OLP). However, there is little information about the psychosomatic approaches to manage these oral mucosal diseases. This review summarizes the reports on the psychological statuses of patients with oral mucosal diseases, including RAS and OLP and others, and discusses the appropriate psychosomatic approaches for the management of these diseases. The psychosomatic background is probably involved in onset and course of inflammatory oral mucosal diseases, and can be called as “psychosomatic diseases”. The field of psychosomatic medicine for oral mucosal diseases may be termed “psychostomatology”.