A systematic review depicted that in the pathogenesis of burning mouth syndrome (BMS), both central and peripheral neuropathies seem to play a significant role. However, the balance between them differs from case to case and exhibits a tendency to overlap. Researchers aimed to provide an updation on the pathophysiology of BMS by examining the theories and studies issued in the last five years that believe BMS to be a neuropathic pain disorder.

With the aid of the following MeSH terms: "(burning mouth OR burning mouth syndrome OR burning mouth pain OR sore mouth OR burning tongue OR oral neuropathic pain OR glossodynia OR stomatopyrosis) AND (etiopathogenesis OR etiopathological factors OR etiology), a literature review was carried out on PubMed.

In the investigation performed as per the methodology, nineteen case-control studies (one of which was in vivo) and one randomized controlled trial were reported. Of the nineteen included studies, eight demonstrated an evidence score of 2-; eight demonstrated 2+; another two demonstrated 2++; and 1 demonstrated 1+. Insufficient and heterogenous quality studies on this topic were noted.

Thus, direct impairment to the somatosensory nervous system does not elicit BMS. Rather, BMS seems to be due to the dysfunction of the somatosensory nervous system and the brain network.