Association between Candida species and caries index in children

Background: candida species is one of the most important opportunistic oral fungal flora that contributed to oral candidal infections. Recently some studies indicate the association between increased caries incidence in children with oral candidal carriage. Objective: To candida species is one of the most important opportunistic oral fungal flora that contributed to oral candidal infections. Recently some studies indicate the association between increased caries incidence in children with oral candidal carriage. Patients and Methods: Sixty-one children with ages 6 to 12 years ,  DMFT, dmft, and OHI-S were measured and oral swabs were tested on three different surfaces (lingual, occlusal, and buccal) then cultured on SDA as a primary medium, and selective medium on CHROMagar, also germ tube test was done and for more precision, pure colonies were identified up to species based on their carbohydrate assimilation pattern by the VITEK 2 compact Results: 22 (36.1%) children with candida carriage, C.albicans 12, (54%), C.dubliniensis  4,( 18.18%),  C.krusei  4, (18.18%),  C. tropicalis  2, ( 9.1%). There was no association between candidal species in the oral cavity and caries index (DMFT, dmft). Conclusion: Non-significant weak negative correlation appeared between candidal species in the oral cavity and caries index in children. The most predominant candidal species was C.albicans.