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Use of antifungal agents for oral candidiasis: results of a national survey
Author(s) -
MartínezBeneyto Y,
LópezJornet P,
VelandrinoNicolás A,
JornetGarcía V
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
international journal of dental hygiene
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.674
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1601-5037
pISSN - 1601-5029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1601-5037.2008.00357.x
Subject(s) - miconazole , medicine , nystatin , candida albicans , antifungal , family medicine , oral mucosa , corpus albicans , dentistry , dermatology , pathology , genetics , biology
Background: Candida albicans is an opportunistic agent that colonizes the oral mucosa. Objectives: To determine the attitude of Spanish dentists toward the oral treatment of candidiasis. Method: Between May and November 2006, a questionnaire was circulated to a random selection of 1134 dentists obtained from the General Dental Council’s main list. The survey consisted of a block of socio‐demographic items followed by another block related to the diagnosis and treatment of oral candidiasis. Replies to the questionnaire were received from 840 (74%) dentists. Results: 50.4% of respondents were men, and 48.1% were female with a mean age of 38 and 12.2 years of professional experience. Miconazole was the most popular choice of antifungal agent prescribed (59.3%), followed by nystatin (57.7%) for topical use. Systemic antifungal agents were used by 30.20% of dentists, with a strong association between their use and the number of years in practice, gender and professional qualifications ( P < 0.005). Conclusion: Most Spanish dentists make clinical diagnosis and treat oral infections by C. albicans themselves with topical drugs (miconazole and nystatin) as a first choice. Systemic treatments are more commonly chosen by male dentists with long professional experience, especially by stomatologists.