Although the exact etiology of burning mouth syndrome （BMS） is still unknown, there are three leading hypotheses: the first is that BMS is caused by a disorder of the peripheral nervous system as a neuropathic pain; the second is that BMS is caused by a disorder of the central nervous system associated with stress and anxiety; and the third is that both hypotheses are involved in BMS. In this article, we summarize reports that epigenetics such as DNA methylation and histone modifications in the peripheral and central nervous systems may be involved in the pathogenesis of BMS.
