A New Form of Intraoral Delivery of Antifungal Drugs for the Treatment of Denture-Induced Oral Candidosis

OBJECTIVES: To monitor the release of the antifungal drugs Fluconazole, Chlorhexidine and a combination of the two from an auto-polymerized poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) denture base resin; and to investigate the effect of the released drugs upon the growth of Candida albicans. METHODS: A high performance liquid chromatography-Ultra violet (HPLC-UV) method was used in the analysis of the released drugs into distilled water from PMMA discs doped with the antifungal drugs Fluconazole (10%), Chlorhexidine (10%) and a combination of the two drugs (5% each). The antifungal efficacy of the released drugs was monitored, microbiologically, employing “well” technique on a Saborauds culture medium inoculated with a resistant strain of Candida albicans. RESULTS: It was shown that Fluconazole, Chlorhexidine and the combination of the two drugs can be successfully incorporated with PMMA. It was found that the drugs leach steadily out of the PMMA resin into distilled water at mouth temperature and that sustained drug release continued throughout the 28 days test period. It was also shown that the released drugs demonstrated an antifungal activity against the resistant Candida albicans and this was most remarkable in the combined drugs samples. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this investigation have a clinical value in terms of their significant contribution to the treatment of fungal infections of the oral cavity. The sustained release of anti-fungal drugs from the PMMA resin clearly constitutes a new dosage form of these drugs via the poly (methyl methacrylate) delivery system.