MICONAZOLE CHEWING GUM FOR TREATMENT OF CHRONIC ORAL CANDIDOSIS

A chewing gum containing the antifungal drug miconazole may be conveni ent for topical treatment of oral candidosis. Therefore a trial was pe rformed to examine the effect and tolerance of miconazole chewing gum in comparison with miconazole gel in the treatment of oral candidosis. The study group consisted of 32 patients with oral candidosis harbori ng yeasts, predominantly Candida spp. Half of the patients chewed one piece of chewing gum (dose: 3.6 mg of miconazole) four times daily; th e other half dispersed a 2% gel (dose: 50 mg of miconazole) in the ora l cavity four times daily. After 6 wk of treatment, there was no clini cal evidence of yeast infection in either of the two groups. No signif icant differences between the two groups were found in clinical, mycol ogic, and cytologic investigations conducted after 3 and 6 wk of treat ment or at the follow-up examination 4 wk after termination of the tre atment. The results indicate that miconazole released from chewing gum is as effective as miconazole gel. The chewing gum reduced the dosage of miconazole for treatment of oral candidosis, and the patients appr oved the chewing gum as a pleasant medicament.