Burning mouth syndrome in Parkinson’s disease: dopamine as cure or cause?

Burning mouth syndrome has been reported as being more common in Parkinson’s disease patients than the general population. While the pathophysiology is unclear, decreased dopamine levels and dopamine dysregulation are hypothesized to play a role. We report a patient with Parkinson’s disease who developed burning mouth syndrome with carbidopa/levodopa. Our patient had resolution of burning mouth symptoms when carbidopa/levodopa was replaced with a dopamine agonist. Based on our patient’s clinical course, in conjunction with earlier studies assessing the relationship between burning mouth syndrome and Parkinson’s disease, we discuss a potential role for dopamine in burning mouth syndrome in Parkinson’s disease.