Some mouth and face pain has no visible cause on examination or X-rays. That doesn’t mean “it’s nothing” or that the pain is imagined: these are real, classified and studied pain conditions, and there are treatments for them.

Burning mouth syndrome

It is a burning or stinging feeling on the tongue, lips, gums or palate, lasting hours every day, for months, while the lining of the mouth looks normal. It can come with a dry mouth or taste changes. It is more common in women after the menopause.

Before making the diagnosis, we look for and treat causes that can give the same symptoms: vitamin or iron deficiency, diabetes, thyroid problems, oral thrush, dry mouth, allergies, some medications, irritating dental work. When all of these are ruled out, we speak of burning mouth syndrome.

Other persistent facial pain

Persistent idiopathic facial pain: daily, deep pain, hard to pinpoint, with no identifiable cause.
Persistent dentoalveolar pain (sometimes called “phantom tooth pain”): pain in a tooth or in the area of an extracted tooth, with no dental cause, often after treatment.

With these conditions, the most important thing is to avoid unnecessary dental treatment (root canals, extractions), which doesn’t solve the pain and can keep it going.

Treatment

explaining the diagnosis: understanding the pain greatly reduces the worry about it
treating the local and general factors found by the tests
local or general medication, chosen individually and followed over time
working with your GP, neurologist, endocrinologist or psychologist, as needed

Book an orofacial pain consultation.

Burning mouth syndrome and other persistent facial pain