Glycaemic disorders in denture stomatitis.

The prevalence of glycaemic disorders was investigated in native Upper-Austrians with Candida-associated denture stomatitis. All patients with previously unknown diabetes mellitus were subjected to an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and as a result diabetes was diagnosed in 13% of the patients over 50 years of age. Thirty-five percent of all inspected patients over 50 years of age with denture stomatitis had type 2 diabetes mellitus and 36% had impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). The correlation between Candida-associated denture stomatitis and diabetes mellitus indicates a means for the early diagnosis of diabetes. Hyperglycaemia could not be a predisposition to denture stomatitis, since all patients with denture stomatitis in the age-bracket 26-50 years were without diabetes and only very few of the older patients with diabetes were obese. The correlation between Candica-associated denture stomatitis and type 2 diabetes mellitus could be traced back to a reduced resistance to Candida that preceded the diabetes.