Denture stomatitis–yeast occurrence and the pH of saliva and denture plaque

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Abstract
The study comprised 30 denture wearers with generalized simple or granular inflammation in the palate and 30 without (controls). Yeasts, mostly Candida species, were cultivated from the maxillary dentures of all subjects with inflammation and of 23 controls. Hyphae were found in the maxillary denture smears from 28 subjects with inflammation and from 18 controls. Thus it seems unjustified to consider the occurrence of hyphae pathognomonic of denture stomatitis. The pH of whole saliva did not differ in the two groups (inflammation: mean pH 6.5, control: 6.6). There was no clear relation, between the pH of resting saliva and the amount of fungal cultures. Thirty minutes after a mouth rinse with 10 ml of a 25% sucrose solution, the mean saliva pH had dropped equally in both groups. With regard to the denture plaque, samples taken 40 min after the rinse indicated a more pronounced acid production in the plaque associated with inflammation. The pH of “resting” plaque was also lower in the inflammation than in the control group (mean maxillary pH 5.7 and 6.3, respectively, α= 0.002). No association was found between the pH and the occurrence of hyphae in “resting” denture plaque. This supports the view that the pH is of no major importance for filamentation in vivo.