Background: Candida is a ubiquitous organism in nature which inhabits the oral cavity as part of the normal microbial flora. The oral carriage of Candida is perpetuated by several predisposing factors.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was designed to investigate the carriage rate of Candida among 104 voluntary adults at the college of medicine - Jouf University. The concentrated oral rinse technique using Sabouraud Dextrose agar medium supplemented with 0.05% Chloramphenicol was used to isolate Candida. The relative factors affecting the colonization of Candida and the concentration of each type were also determined.
Results: Candida species were isolated from the oral cavity of 45 (43.4%) subjects. Of these 55.6% were identifies as C. albicans as determined by the Vitek 2 compact system. Other Candida species were represented by C. glabrata (11.1%), C. krusei (11.1%), C. dubliniensis (8.9%), C. parapsilosis (6.7%), C. tropicalis (4.4%), and C. famata (2.2%). Subjects with very poor plaque status, severe gingivitis and diabetes had significantly (P = 0.001) high concentration of Candida spp.
Conclusion: Plague, severe gingivitis, and diabetes were found to be significantly associated with higher Candida colonization.
Keywords: Candida spp; Mouth rinses; Oral hygiene; Risk indicators.