Oral candidosis--frequency, treatment and relapse tendency in a group of psychiatric inpatients

Candida fungi are frequent in the oral cavity, especially in denture wearers. The infection can cause serious complications in elderly or debilitated subject. The present experimental group consisted of 81 female psychiatric patients (35--91 years of age). In addition to a clinical examination, smears from the palate, tongue and dentures (when present) were cultured on Nickerson's medium. Patients with a positive clinical and/or microbiological diagnosis were treated for 35 days with one of two gels containing 1% chlorhexidine. Following the treatment period patients with full or partial dentures took part in a maintenance program, in which the dentures were either soaked in a 0.2% chlorhexidine solution or mechanically cleaned every day for a period of 35 days. Two thirds of the patients showed clinical signs of oral candidosis or had positive cultures preexperimentally. The treatment with chlorhexidine gels resulted in negative cultures in 71% and negative clinical diagnosis gels resulted in negative cultures in 71% and negative clinical diagnosis in 96% of the patients. Mucosal soreness occurred during the treatment period in 8 out of 28 patients wearing full dentures. Xerostomia was not influenced by the chlorhexidine treatment. The relapse tendency was low during the post-treatment period. No clearcut differences between the two maintenance methods could be detected.