RESUMO
In a prospective study at the Surgical Specialty Hospital, Medical City Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, 30 immuno-compromised patients with oral candidiasis [thrush] of the tongue were treated with diode laser irradiation, antifungal antibiotics or ordinary light irradiation as a placebo. A fungicidal effect was achieved in those treated by irradiation with 805 nm wavelength semiconductor diode laser using a power of 1W and continuous working mode for 3 minutes for 5 consecutive days, and also in those treated with antimycotics but the laser treatment was shorter [5 days] compared to the antimycotic treatment [10-21 days] and was used successfully in a renal transplant patient without interference with the drug regimen. It is concluded that light from a low power laser may be valuable in the treatment of oral candidiasis, especially in immuno-compromised patients where the rate of recurrence is high and development of resistant strains is a possibility