Evaluation of Acrylic Resilient Liner Containing Chlorhexidine in Denture Stomatitis: A Double-blinded Pilot Study

Objectives: The aim of this pilot study was to compare the efficacy of rebase using acrylic resilient liner with or without chlorhexidine diacetate in denture stomatitis patients. It was hypothesised that (I): erythema would be improved (IIa): colony forming unit (CFU) would be reduced and (IIb): the predominance of a morphological type of Candida would be correlated to clinical features.
Methods: The upper jaws of sixteen denture stomatitis patients were randomly assigned to control group (rebase with resilient liner) and test group (rebase with resilient liner containing 1% chlorhexidine) followed by 14 days. The analyzed parameters at two recall visits were: clinical evaluation (examination and photos), and microbiological evaluations (smears and cultures of palates and dentures). The patients and the investigators, who were different from the therapists, were both blinded.
Results: The erythema surface was reduced significantly, but did not differ significantly between both groups (P > 0.05). The flevel of growth of Candida during the treatment did not differ significantly between both groups (P > 0.05). The Candida type could not be correlated to clinical stage achieved.
Conclusions: The primary hypothesis was confirmed, which may be interpreted as an accelerated remission. Even though the secondary hypotheses were not confirmed, persistence of Candida might be only colonization, and the morphological plasticity of Candida seems to be strongly influenced by fungal virulence. However, no results were found to confirm the clinical preponderance of any stomatitis treatment tested.