Antifungal medications or disinfectants for denture stomatitis.

DATA SOURCES: The Cochrane database of systematic reviews, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Medline and Embase databases and reference lists of identified articles were searched with no language restriction. STUDY SELECTION: Randomised controlled trials that compared the efficacy of antifungal medications with other treatments of denture-related erythematous stomatitis in adults wearing conventional acrylic removable complete dentures were included. Trials of seven days or fewer were excluded. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Study assessment and data extraction were carried out independently by at least two reviewers. Study quality was assessed using Cochrane methodology. Odds Ratios (OR) and 95% Confidence Interval (CI) were calculated to compare results across studies using a random effects model. RESULTS: Fourteen randomised controlled trials were included in the review, with eight studies contributing to the meta-analysis. No statistically significant difference between antifungal treatment and disinfection methods was found for both clinical and microbiological outcomes. Meta-analysis showed a statistically significant difference between an antifungal and a placebo for the microbiological outcome (OR=0.32; 95% CI: 0.12-0.89; Z=-2.2; p=0.028), favouring the antifungals. There was no statistically significant difference between antifungal and placebo for the clinical outcome (OR=0.2; 95% CI: 0.04-1.04; Z=-1.9; p=0.056). CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this review and meta-analysis suggest that disinfection methods could be considered as an adjunct or alternative to antifungal medications in the treatment of denture stomatitis.