Comparison of Candida Albicans Adherence to Conventional Acrylic Denture Base Materials and Injection Molding Acrylic Materials

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Candida species are believed to play an important role in initiation and progression of denture stomatitis. The type of the denture material also influences the adhesion of candida and development of stomatitis. PURPOSE The aim of this study was comparing the adherence of candida albicans to the conventional and injection molding acrylic denture base materials. MATERIALS AND METHOD Twenty injection molding and 20 conventional pressure pack acrylic discs (10×10×2 mm) were prepared according to their manufacturer's instructions. Immediately before the study, samples were placed in sterile water for 3 days to remove residual monomers. The samples were then sterilized using an ultraviolet light unit for 10 minutes. 1×108 Cfu/ml suspension of candida albicans ATCC-10231 was prepared from 48 h cultured organism on sabouraud dextrose agar plates incubated at 37oC. 100 μL of this suspension was placed on the surface of each disk. After being incubated at 37oC for 1 hour, the samples were washed with normal saline to remove non-adherent cells. Attached cells were counted using the colony count method after shaking at 3000 rmp for 20 seconds. Finally, each group was tested for 108 times and the data were statistically analyzed by t-test. RESULTS Quantitative analysis revealed that differences in colony count average of candida albicans adherence to conventional acrylic materials (8.3×103) comparing to injection molding acrylic resins (6×103) were statistically significant (p<0.001). CONCLUSION Significant reduction of candida albicans adherence to the injection acrylic resin materials makes them valuable for patients with high risk of denture stomatitis.