Denture stomatitis—An interdisciplinary clinical review

Purpose An interdisciplinary clinical review on denture stomatitis formulated by experts from prosthodontics, oral medicine, and oral microbiology is presented. The review outlines the etiopathogenesis, clinical features, and management strategies of denture stomatitis from an interdisciplinary perspective. Materials and methods English‐language articles relating to the definition, incidence, gender distribution, geographical distribution, etiology, pathogenesis, symptoms, signs, treatment, and prognosis of denture stomatitis were retrieved via electronic literature search. Relevant articles were summarized for this manuscript with a view toward providing pragmatic information. Results Denture stomatitis represents a very common, multifactorial infectious, inflammatory, and hyperplastic condition which is primarily caused by poor oral hygiene, poor denture hygiene, and full‐time; mainly night‐time denture wear, bringing about the emergence of advanced Candida‐containing polymicrobial biofilms in close proximity to the host's mucosal tissues. Denture stomatitis shares clinically relevant associations with dental caries, periodontitis, median rhomboid glossitis, angular cheilitis, aspirational pneumonia, and associated mortality. Conclusions Effective, long‐term treatment of denture stomatitis relies upon sustained patient‐driven behavioral change which should focus on daily prosthesis‐level cleaning and disinfection, removal of dentures at night, every night, engagement with professional denture maintenance, and when required, denture replacement. Antifungal medications offer limited benefits outside of short‐term use due to the emergence of antifungal resistance. For frail, older, medically compromised, and nursing home populations, treatment of denture stomatitis lowers the risk of aspirational pneumonia and associated mortality.