An epidemiologic study of yeasts in elderly denture wearers

The purpose of this study has been to assess the prevalence of denture stomatitis and candida infection in an elderly Danish population. Ten percent of the population above the age of 65 in a Danish community was selected randomly. The study group consisted of 465 persons wearing a removable maxillary denture, who were examined in their homes. Yeasts were isolated by oral swabs for cultivation and by mucosal and denture scrapings for microscopy. The prevalence of denture stomatitis was 65%. Yeasts, especially C. albicans, were cultivated in most denture wearers with denture stomatitis (Group 1) or with clinically normal palatal mucosa (Group 2). However, large accumulations of hyphae were present in 77% of the patients in Group 1 compared with 47% in Group 2; both hyphae and inflammatory cells were seen in smears in 65% of Group 1 but only in 14% of Group 2. On the other hand, bacterial contamination of the smears was more pronounced in Group 2 than in Group 1. The study has revealed that candida infection and poor denture cleanliness are very common in elderly denture wearers.