The carriage of Candida species on the dorsal surface of the tongue: the correlation with the dental, periodontal and prosthetic status in elderly subjects

Objectives: To screen the carriage status of Candida species, especially Candida albicans and its genotype in an epidemiological survey and to investigate its correlation with the dental, periodontal and prosthetic status of healthy elderly subjects. Materials and methods: Microbiological samples were collected from the dorsum of the tongue of 366 subjects, aged 75, and cultured on CHROMagar medium. The carriage status of Candida spp. and the distribution of C. albicans genotypes by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method were analysed and compared with the dental, periodontal and prosthetic status of the subjects. Results: A high carriage rate (68.6%) of Candida spp. and the predominant species of C. albicans (72.1%) were found in this study. The prevalence, density and multi‐species of Candida spp. were significantly related to the presence of a dental prosthesis. In C. albicans, genotype A predominated (56.4%) and genotype D showed a higher prevalence (12.5%) than previous reports. When comparing Candida spp. carriage with the oral status, significant positive correlations were found with the presence of any dental prosthesis, missing teeth, the number of retained roots and the percentage of sites showing bleeding on probing (BOP), while significant negative correlations were found with the number of teeth present, sound and filled teeth. Conclusions: Candida carriage on the dorsum of the tongue in healthy elderly is significantly associated with the dental, periodontal and prosthetic status, especially the presence of a dental prosthesis. As the complexity of the prosthesis being worn increased, the relative risk of Candida carriage and the numbers and multi‐species of Candida increased accordingly.