Yeast colonization in the oral cavity and feces in patients with denture stomatitis

Abstract

An investigation was undertaken of 77 denture wearers to study the incidence of yeasts in the angles of the mouth, denturebearing mucosa, denture base, the throat and the gastrointestinal tract. Fifty-one denture wearers exhibited denture stomatitis and 26 showed no clinical signs of inflammation of the palatal mucosa (controls). In addition the influence of oral local treatment with an antifungal agent (Mycostatin®) on the yeast flora in the same sites was studied in denture wearers with denture stomatitis. The findings suggest a higher rate of yeast colonization in the mouth (100% compared to 40%) and feces (71% compared to 35%) in denture wearers with denture stomatitis than in denture wearers without stomatitis. Similar species of yeasts, predominantly Candida albicans, C. tropicalis and Torulopsis glabrata were identified among the isolates from the oral sites, throat and feces in denture wearers with stomatitis. In denture wearers without stomatitis the yeast species isolated from the oral sites and feces differed. In these samples the saprophytic yeasts Saccaromyces and Rhodutorula together with T. glabrata were dominating. Fourteen days of local oral treatment with Mycostatin significantly reduced the number of positive cultures of yeasts from the oral sites and the stool samples. However, after cessation of treatment the mycotic flora was largely re-established in most subjects.

Biopsy materials from the palatal mucosa showed no invasive fungal elements. All persisting yeast isolates after fourteen days treatment were susceptibility-tested and found to be sensitive to nystatin.

Key Words:

• Prosthetics
• microbiology
• histopathology