Beneficial effects of three natural products for the treatment of denture stomatitis

Aim: To evaluate the effect of three natural antifungal agents combined with routine denture care on the treatment of DS, using a quantitative mycological culture analysis. Methods: Thirty denture wearers with denture stomatitis DS were treated using five substances: sterile distilled water (G1), nystatin oral suspension (G2), 20% alcoholic extract propolis (G3), Punica granatum Linné gel (G4), and Uncaria tomentosa gel (G5). The substances were used 3 times a day for 14 days. Quantitative mycological culture analysis of samples collected from the palatal mucosa was performed at three stages: before treatment (T0), after 14 days of treatment (T1), and 30 days after treatment completion (T2). Data were evaluated using Kruskal-Wallis and Friedman tests (p < 0.05). Results: Palatal mucosa intragroup analysis showed a significant reduction of Candida CFU/mL values for all groups at T1 compared to T0 (p < 0.05). However, they did not present statistical differences when comparing T1 and T2 (p > 0.05). The intergroup analysis demonstrated that there are no statistical differences, regardless of the evaluation time (p > 0.05). Conclusion: The natural products tested showed a satisfactory result on DS treatment, which proved to be equivalent to conventional topical therapy with nystatin and to treatment using only regular oral hygiene procedures.