Impact of Dentures’ All-night Immersion in Distilled Water on Candidal Colonization

Abstract

Objective: In order to keep their dentures clean and properly stored, patients generally soak them in water at night. Candida albicans is a commensal yeast fungus that colonizes dentures, and in some conditions, it becomes an opportunistic pathogen and causes fungal infections known as candidiasis. This mycological study aimed to evaluate the effect of distilled water on Candida albicans colonizing dentures.

Methods: Twenty patients (9 men, 11 women; age range 40-75 years) with complete maxillary dentures infected by Candida albicans were included in this study. The dentures of these patients were soaked in distilled water for 4 days (8 hours at night). Swab samples from the dentures were collected before and after distilled water use and examined mycologically.

Results: The Candida albicans colony counts increased after soaking the dentures in distilled water for 8 hours for 4 days.

Conclusion: Patients should be dissuaded from soaking their dentures overnight in distilled water, as the result is a significant increase in fungal colonization.