Candida albicans Denture Biofilm and its Clinical Significance

Fungi belonging to Candida genus, especially C. albicans play an important role in microflora of oral cavity. Microbial colonisation process taking place within oral cavity is inseparably related to formation of multispecies biofilm, i.e. dental and denture plaque. A mature fungal biofilm is a heterogeneous three-dimensional dense conglomeration of mixture of different morphological forms: blastospores, germ tubes, pseudohyphae and hyphae surrounded by the extracellular polymeric matrix. Composition and specific properties of substratum, saliva and yeasts as well as multiple intricate interactions between all of them influence the ability of Candida spp. isolates to adhere and colonise both natural and artificial surfaces, followed by biofilm formation. Obviously, specific complex host-pathogen interactions also should not be neglected. A lot of additional factors like poor oral and denture hygiene, low pH under prosthesis, sufficient concentration of sugar and iron or antibody titres influence Candida adhesion and colonisation of acrylic resin base. C. albicans is capable of inducing a variety of superficial diseases of the oral mucosa. The most common clinical form of oral candidal infection related to biofilm formation affecting a great deal of denture wearers is denture-associated stomatitis, also known as chronic atrophic candidiasis or erythemateous candidasis. Development of C. albicans biofilm on a denture surface constitutes a difficult and hard to resolve problem which may concern every single prosthesis-wearer. Thus, careful oral and denture hygiene is highly recommended for the population of artificial teeth wearers.