Candida is also known as an oral yeast infection or oral thrush. This condition is not uncommon. It results in white spots on your tongue. You may also have painful red spots on your tongue.
Hi i’m dr. joe namath i’m a periodontist in southfield michigan and i want to talk a little bit about yeast infections in the mouth in fact just the other day i saw someone who had a yeast infection in the mouth she had some white patches on her tongue there were some red areas on the tongue her mouth burned was very uncomfortable for her she was an older individual
Older individuals tend to be more prone to yeast infections because their immune system is somewhat more compromised so typically will see yeast infections which may also be called thrush or candidiasis in people with compromised immune systems often older individuals or sometimes in infants so typically infants older individuals we also can see it in people who
Have been taking antibiotics for a long time because the antibiotics can destroy the natural bacteria that would normally inhabit the mouth and other parts of the body and when those bacteria are gone there’s an opportunity for these yeast to take over and again typically you may have white spots on your tongue the whole tongue may be white it may be red with
Certain areas certain white patches if you rub on those areas there may be bleeding it can be very uncomfortable it can actually be painful it can spread to other parts of your body like down your throat let me show you what yeast looks like because we we had we take a slide of every patient and we check the tongue frequently especially if that’s an area of concern
So these are yeast and that’s what they typically look like in the mouth or on the tongue here’s another picture of yeast they’re these long string like structures and that’s typically what we see when we see yeast each mouth the my yeast might be slightly different but they almost always look like this and who else can get yeast infections who else is subject
To east infection if you take corticosteroids for instance on asthma sprays asthma inhalers have corticosteroids and those also may create an environment that’s favorable to yeast infections we also tend to see it in people with diabetes again their immune system is compromised hiv/aids compromises the immune system and when that’s another frequent situation where
Thrush yeast candidiasis is seen we also may find it in people whose diet is let’s say far from healthy eating a lot of sugar and starchy foods that may compromise their immune system people who wear dentures very often that tissue is covered it doesn’t get a chance to breathe and sometimes we see east infections in the mouths or under the dentures of those people
So what can you do to treat it if you start to notice white spots or anything like that in your mouth try rinsing with a warm salt solution have a teaspoon of salt glass of warm water about a minute three or four times a day also how did you peroxide rinse can be helpful half water half three percent hydrogen peroxide so it’s diluted by half baking soda on your
Toothbrush instead of toothpaste also if you have dentures disinfect those dentures at night also don’t use the same toothbrush day after day because that may be contaminated with yeast so make sure you keep changing your toothbrushes until this infection is completely gone now if these other lifestyle changes don’t make a difference then typically we prescribe
Various medications there’s an oral rinse called nystatin that’s usually very effective in eliminating this if it doesn’t respond to nystatin or if it’s gone in other parts of the body like that your throat or your esophagus then there’s something called fluconazole which is taken internally that’s almost always effective if these home lifestyle changes that we
Suggested don’t make any difference come see your dentist or come to our office and we’ll take a look at it and try to make sure we can help you get rid of it just remember a healthy mouth is a healthy body have a good day restore your smile and your health with the help of dr. nemeth and his associates visit dr. nemeth calm to schedule your appointment today
Transcribed from video
How to Treat Candida at Home: Doctors Advice By Joseph R Nemeth DDS \u0026 Associates
