Yeast counts as a measure of host resistance in dental patients.

This study was undertaken to determine whether yeast counts could be used as an indicator of decreased host resistance. One hundred subjects were investigated, 20 young healthy dentate and 20 edentulous adults, 20 adult and 20 geriatric denture wearers and 20 patients fitted with obturators and dentures. Eleven of these obturators were silicone and 9 were acrylic. The denture and the palate of each subject was sampled by taking Sabourauds agar impressions of the posterolateral palatal area and incubating the impressions aerobically at 37 degrees C for 48 hours. The number of yeast colonies were counted and the findings analysed statistically. Palates and dentures of debilitated patients showed high yeast counts and it is concluded that a decreased host resistance can be determined by the method used in this investigation.