As poor denture hygiene is related to
Candida colonisation, disinfectant solutions have been proposed as an effective method of preventing denture stomatitis. This study
assessed the efficacy of denture cleansers on
Candida albicans and
Candida glabrata adherence on denture liners. Another aim was to correlate materials’ surface roughness (Ra) to
Candida adherence. Specimens of three denture liners (soft and hard polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)-based and soft silicone-based)
were prepared and had their Ra measured. Specimens were randomly divided to adherence assays with
C. albicans or
C. glabrata. After contamination with the fungi, specimens were treated with an enzymatic cleanser solution, a cleanser solution or a
0.5% NaOCl solution by soaking for 3, 15 or 10 min, respectively. Control group specimens were soaked in distilled water for
15 min. Number of remaining
Candida cells after treatment was determined by light microscopy (×400). Analysis of variance (
α = 0.05) showed that Ra of the silicone-based liner was lower than that of the PMMA-based liners (
p < 0.05). The overall results showed high
C. glabrata adherence (
p < 0.001), while the lowest levels of remaining
Candida cells were found for the treatment with 0.5% NaOCl (
p = 0.0019). No difference among denture cleansers and control was found (
p = 0.19). There was no correlation between Ra and
C. albicans or
C. glabrata adherence in all materials tested. The only treatment able to reduce both
Candida species adherence on all materials tested was 0.5% NaOCl solution.
Keywords
Candida albicans
-
Candida glabrata
- Denture liners - Denture cleansers - Saliva