Comparative evaluation of Candida albicans mean colony count in smokers and non-smokers

Cigarette smoking may affect saliva, oral commensal bacteria and fungi, mainly Candida that causes oral candidiasis. This study was designed to evaluate the prevalence of Candida colony count in smokers and non smokers based on clinical and preclinical findings.

This case control study recruited 72 subjects, 36 smokers and 36 non-smokers who were selected after a primary clinical examination and completion of a questionnaire. The saliva was collected by spitting in sterile test-tubes after tooth brushing. Samples were transferred to a lab for culture and colony count. The colonies were counted after 48 hours and results were analyzed by using T-test and Pearson correlation coefficient.

The mean number of colonies in smokers was 140 and in nonsmokers were 67.25. This finding shows that the mean number of colonies in smokers is significantly higher than non-smokers (P=0.01). Also, there was a significant relationship between the number of daily cigarette smoked and the number of colonies (P=0.039, r=0.346). Another finding of this study showed that the number of colonies increased with age among smoker's group (P=0.039, r=O.346). There was no significant relationship between the number of colonies and age in nonsmokers (P=0.822, r= 0.039).

Based on the results of this study, we can conclude that, there is a direct relationship between cigarette smoking and increased growth of Candida in the mouth of smokers. It was also demonstrated that, the higher the number of cigarette smoked, the higher was the number of Candida in the mouth