Background: Candida albicans may have cariogenic potential but its role in caries etiology has not been established. The aim of this study was to determine candida albicans in supragingival dental plaque and infected dentine of cervical and proximal in early childhood caries (ECC).
Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 6o children aged 2-5 years, which were divided into 3 groups: children with at least one cervical caries; children with at least one proximal caries and caries-free. The infected dentine was collected from cervical and proximal caries lesions and plaque samples were collected from the three groups in order to compare the frequency of candida albicans in the collected sites. All samples were cultured in Sabouraud and CHROMagar medium and the cases that were positive for candida albicans were cultured in germ tube. Data were collected and analyzed.
Results: The mean age of the children was 3.9 years. From 100 samples, candida albicans samples were isolated in 55%, mold fungi were found in 29% cases and there was no fungal growth in 16% of the samples. In plaque samples, candida albicans were found in 15% of caries-free samples, 20% of the proximal and 80% of the cervical caries. In samples extracted from the caries, candida albicans were found in 60% of the proximal and 100% of the cervical caries. Mothers with university educational level had children with more cervical decays, caries free and proximal caries, respectively.
Conclusion: The results showed that prevalence of Candida albicans in dental plaque and caries lesions of children with early childhood caries were relatively high and the prevalence was higher in cervical caries group.
Keywords: Candida albicans; Dental caries; children..