1994 Volume 40 Issue 6 Pages 949-953
In order to clarify the relationship between dry mouth and Candida, we investigated the early morning saliva of patients who complained of experiencing dry mouth. It was revealed that the positive rate of Candida was 71% in the patients with dry mouth, while on the other hand, it was only 56% in the normal cases. The positive rate and density of Candida in the patients who showed a low level both in the gum test and in the salivary total flow volume at rest were apparently different from those of normal cases. But the positive rate and density of Candida in the cases that showed a normal level in both tests were not significantly different from those of normal cases. We gave Florid gel, which is an antifungus drugs, for two weeks to the patients whose density of Candida was more than on plus, and thereafter the Candida either disappeared or decreased in all cases while its effective rate was 80%. The subjective symptoms improved in 93% of patients, and among them “the improvement or disappearance of the feeling of dry mouth” was recognized in 23% of the patients. Candida was mostly found in the saliva of patients whose function of the salivary glands had apparently decreased, therefore we concluded that the existance of Candida might at least be an indirect cause of the feeling of dry mouth.
