Colonization of Candida albicans on cleaned human dental hard tissues.

Candida albicans is a fungus that commonly infects oral mucosal surfaces. Limited data exist on biofilm formation by C. albicans on dental surfaces. Human premolar teeth were infected with C. albicans for 10 days and hard-tissue surfaces were examined with a scanning electron microscope. Enamel, cementum and dentine, in the absence or presence of a smear layer, were readily colonized by this micro-organism. Hyphae penetrated into cracks, followed the ridges of the cavities and migrated into dentinal tubules. Blastospores and hyphae were embedded in an extracellular material. These findings suggest that dental hard tissues may be invaded by C. albicans and thus can potentially present a reservoir for disseminating candidal infections.