thrush on tongue
Last edited 07/2018 and last reviewed 10/2023
Oral candidiasis is a common fungal infection of the oral mucosa (1).
- it is commonly caused by the yeast Candida albicans, one of the components of normal oral microflora
- other species such as C glabrata, C tropicalis, and C krusei may also be responsible (2)
- Candida species are commensals in the gastrointestinal tract and about 30% to 50% of healthy people carry Candida species as normal flora in their mouth (2)
- rate of carriage increases with age - Candida albicans are recovered from 60% of dentate patient's mouth over the age of 60 years (3).
Candida tends to be an opportunistic infection with predisposing factors attributed to the organism (4)
- it is the most frequently seen oral manifestation of HIV infections with up to 90% of patients developing the infection at some stage (4).
Click here for example image of this condition
Reference:
- (1) Oral candidiasis. American academy of dental and maxilliofacial pathology.2005
- (2) Pankhurst CL. Managing oral candidiasis in resource poor settings. BMJ clinical evidence 2006
- (3) Singh A, Verma R, Murari A, Agrawal A. Oral candidiasis: An overview. Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology : JOMFP. 2014;18(Suppl 1):S81-S85.
- (4) Garcia-Cuesta C, Sarrion-Pérez M-G, Bagán JV. Current treatment of oral candidiasis: A literature review. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Dentistry. 2014;6(5):e576-e582.
predisposition to candida infection
clinical classification of oral candidiasis