Oral candidiasis following steroid therapy for oral lichen planus

ObjectivesThe purpose of this multicentre study was to determine the incidence of oral candidiasis in patients treated with topical steroids for oral lichen planus (OLP) and to determine whether the application of a concurrent antifungal therapy prevented the development of an oral candidiasis in these patients. Materials and MethodsRecords of 315 patients with OLP seen at four Oral Medicine practices treated for at least 2weeks with steroids with and without the use of an antifungal regimen were retrospectively reviewed. ResultsThe overall incidence of oral fungal infection in those treated with steroid therapy for OLP was 13.6%. There was no statistically significant difference in the rate of oral candidiasis development in those treated with an antifungal regimen vs those not treated prophylactically (14.3% vs 12.6%) (P=0.68). ConclusionsDespite the use of various regimens, none of the preventive antifungal strategies used in this study resulted in a significant difference in the rate of development of an oral candidiasis in patients with OLP treated with steroids.