Oral fungal and bacterial infection in smokers

Abstract

Objective. The objective was to determine the impact of smoking and the degree of nicotine dependence on the occurrence of changes in the oral cavity, the frequency of Candida and opportunistic bacteria in healthy young men. Methods. A prospective study was done on 100 healthy men (63 smokers and 37 non-smokers), mean age 36 ± 11.8 years. Smokers were tested using the Fagerstrom's test to assess the intensity of nicotine dependence. After clinical examination sample were collected with cotton swab from the dorsal surface of the tongue for mycological and bacteriological examination. Results. There was a significant difference in the number of patients with oral mucosal changes in the group of smokers (68.3%) compared to non-smokers (21.6%). The most frequent oral diseases in smokers were smoker's melanosis, hairy tongue, smoker's palate and a coated tongue. Pathological oral flora (Candida albicans, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli) was isolated in 16 (25.5%) smokers, which is significant compared with findings in 3 (8.1%) non-smoking subjects (Candida albicans). The significant number of oral diseases was found in patients with medium and severe intensity of nicotine dependence. There was no significant difference between the degree of nicotine dependence and the presence of isolated pathological oral flora. Conclusion. Oral diseases are more frequent in smokers. The increased prevalence of Candida albicans and aerobic gram-negative bacilli was found on the surface of the tongue of systemically healthy young smokers, and nicotine dependence has no influence on the presence of these opportunistic microorganisms.