Prevalence of Candida Species in Erosive Oral Lichen Planus

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The clinical management of oral lichen planus poses considerable difficulties to the clinician. In recent years, researchers have focused on the presence of pathogenic microorganisms such as Candida albicans in the patients with refractory lichen planus. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of candida species in the erosive oral lichen planus lesions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-one patients with erosive oral lichen planus and twenty-one healthy individuals aged 18-60 were randomly selected; samples were taken from the tongue, saliva and buccal mucosa with swab friction. Theses samples were sent to the laboratory for determining the presence of candida species in cultures and direct examination method. RESULTS: No significant difference was found between healthy individuals and patients with erosive lichen planus regard-ing presence of candida species. The type of candida in the evaluated samples was Candida albicans in both healthy and patient groups. CONCLUSION: According to the results, candida was not confirmed as an etiologic factor for erosive lichen planus lesions.