ORAL CANDIDIASIS 

Dr. Rawan Alkhalidi 

Supervisor: Dr. Khalil Hussari 
Candida Albicans 
• Candidiasis is a fungal infection caused by a yeast (a type
of fungus) called Candida. Some species
of Candida can cause infection in people; the most
common is Candida albicans. Candida normally lives on skin and
inside the body, such as the mouth, throat, gut, and vagina,
without causing problems. Candida can cause infections if it
grows out of control or if it enters deep into the body. For
example, it can cause infections in the bloodstream or internal
organs like the kidney, heart, or brain.
Oral Thrush 
• is a condition in which the fungus Candida
albicans accumulates on the lining of your mouth.
Candida is a normal organism in your mouth, but
sometimes it can overgrow and cause symptoms. 

• Oral thrush causes creamy white lesions, usually

on your tongue or inner cheeks. Sometimes oral
thrush may spread to the roof of your mouth, your
gums or tonsils, or the back of your throat. 
Predisposing factors causing oral
candidiasis 
• The oral carriage rate for the organism is high, with nearly one half of
the healthy population harboring the organism. Numerous predisposing
factors for oral candidiasis have been recognized, including metabolic,
dietary, mechanical, and iatrogenic factors. Multiple clinical forms of
the disease have been described, including acute, chronic, and
mucocutaneous presentations. Although rarely fatal in the absence of
other serious underlying disease, oral candidiasis may serve as a useful
clinical marker for the presence of significant predisposing conditions.
•  impaired salivary gland function, 
• Drugs
•  Dentures
• high carbohydrate diet,and extremes of life, 
• smoking,
•  diabetes mellitus, 
• Cushing's syndrome, 
• malignancies,
•  immunosuppressive conditions
Signs & Symptoms 
Diagnosis of Oral Candidiasis 
• The diagnosis of oral candidiasis is often made based on the clinical signs and
symptoms. When the clinical presentation is suggestive of oral candidiasis, the
clinician often empirically treats the patient with an antifungal medication.
Resolution of the fungal infection confirms the diagnosis. Additional adjunctive
methods for the diagnosis of oral candidiasis include exfoliative cytology,
biopsy, and culture.

• Samples for exfoliative cytology are obtained by the use of a moistened wooden
 small sample from the mouth or throat.
The sample is sent to a laboratory for
testing, usually to be examined under a
microscope.

usually diagnose candidiasis in the

esophagus by doing an endoscopy. An
endoscopy is a procedure to examine the
digestive tract using a tube with a light
and a camera.
 
Treatment of Oral Candidiasis 
• fluconazole (Diflucan): an oral antifungal medication 
• clotrimazole (Mycelex Troche): an antifungal medication that’s available as a
lozenge 
• nystatin (Nystop, Nyata): an antifungal mouthwash that you can swish in your
mouth or swab in your baby’s mouth 
• itraconazole (Sporanox): an oral antifungal medication that’s used to treat
people who don’t respond to other treatments for oral thrush and people with HIV 
• amphotericin B (AmBisome, Fungizone): a medication that’s used to treat severe
cases of oral thrush 
 Antifungals 
Study Case 
• Study Design :A cohort study.
• Setting : University hospital.
• Discussion: Candida colonization and infection in the oral cavity
are common in patients who receive Radiotherapy for head and neck
cancer. Previous studies have shown that the frequency
of Candida colonization increases from the beginning to the
completion of Radiotherapy. In the present study, although the
rates of Candida-positive culture in the groups at the beginning of
Radiotherapy were not significantly different from that in the
control group, the frequency of Candida colonization increased
during Radiotherapy. 
• Results: 

46 patients who received external-beam radiotherapy for the treatment of head and
neck cancer were enrolled in this prospective study, and were divided into an
oral cavity irradiated (OIRR) group and an oral cavity nonirradiated (ONIRR)
group

65.2 percent of patients who went through irradiation experienced dysphagia

and developed oral candidiasis, compared with only 10 percent in the non-
irriadiated group.
Conclusions

• The study demonstrated that irradiation of the oral cavity in patients

with head and neck cancer was associated with the development of oral
mucositis and the subsequent development of oral candidiasis.
Radiotherapy-induced oral candidiasis may cause severe dysphagia.
Measures to prevent oral candidiasis should help reduce the incidence of
uncomfortable oropharyngeal symptoms that frequently interrupt
treatment.
Refrences: 
• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0030666510001994 

• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0194599810001440 

• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0030422094901465?via%3Dihub
 

• https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/oral-thrush/symptoms-causes/syc-20
353533
 

• https://www.healthline.com/health/thrush