Sjögren's syndrome sufferers have increased oral yeast levels despite regular dental care.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the prevalence and quantity of oral yeasts and their association with oral candidiasis in Sjögren's syndrome (SS) patients receiving regular dental care.


METHODS
Yeasts in oral rinse and full-mouth supra-gingival plaque samples from 25 primary SS, 27 secondary SS and 29 control subjects were selectively cultured. All yeasts except single-species isolates were genotyped using pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE).


RESULTS
Ten (19%) SS sufferers had symptomless candidiasis. SS subjects had a higher prevalence (73%vs 7%) and quantity of yeasts than controls in both oral rinse and plaque samples (P < 0.05). The prevalence of yeasts in plaque was associated with candidiasis regardless of denture wearing (P < or = 0.04). Candida albicans was the predominant yeast isolated. PFGE showed 20 (66% of total) C. albicans isolate pairs, i.e. C. albicans species isolated from plaque and oral rinse samples of the same individual, were of closely related genetic clonal types (P < 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
Despite effective oral hygiene, more SS subjects than controls had detectable levels of oral yeasts and their presence in supra-gingival plaque was associated with candidiasis. Candida albicans colonized supra-gingival biofilm even in well-maintained SS individuals, posing a challenge to the control of oral candidiasis.
Leung
K C M
KC
Oral Rehabilitation, Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
McMillan
A S
AS
Cheung
B P K
BP
Leung
W K
WK
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002175:Candida / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002180:Candidiasis, Oral / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000382:microbiology*; D003778:Dentures; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016555:Matched-Pair Analysis; D008875:Middle Aged; D009910:Oral Hygiene / Q000379:methods*; D012016:Reference Values; D012463:Saliva / Q000382:microbiology; D012859:Sjogren's Syndrome / Q000145:classification / Q000150:complications / Q000382:microbiology*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric