Oral cavity disease/disorder, - Essay Example

s Diseases of the oral cavity have been found to be very common in the elderly patients these days, especially in those who have a depressed immune system or a low personal hygiene. Of these diseases, Oral Thrush is rather a common disease usually found in young children and elderly mainly because of two main reasons. The first reason is a low immunity in children because their immune system is developing and in the elderly because of the depression of their immune system due to old age (Kumar, 2005).

The organism responsible causing this disease is a fungus called Candida Albicans hence the second name Oral Candidiasis. The disease is classified into following types according to its signs and symptoms:1. Pseudomembranous: This is an acute oral candidiasis characterized by the formation of a white creamy membrane on the oral mucosa mainly on the tongue, inner side of the cheeks and may extend to the roof of the mouth. 2. Erythematous: Characterized by the formation of an erythematous red area oat the site of infection, this type of oral candidiasis may be subacute or chronic3.

Hyperplastic: A rare type of candidiasis, characterized by the formation of a hyperplastic plaque, it is a chronic type of candidiasis. The plaque cannot be scrapped off and is the main difference between pseudomembranous and hyperplastic oral candidiasis (Kumar, 2005). Treatment: The treatment depends on the type of the disease. The acute and subacute forms can mainly be treated by aerosols and oral antifungal drugs whereas the treatment of chronic candidiasis requires longterm therapy of oral antifungal drugs with oral corticosteroids (Kasper, 2005).

As a nursing individual, the first thing to be described to an elderly patient is to maintain oral hygiene. Secondly, treatment of associated factors is also very important.ReferencesKUMAR, V., ABBAS, A. K., FAUSTO, N., ROBBINS, S. L., & COTRAN, R. S. (2005).Robbins and Cotran pathologic basis of disease. Philadelphia, Elsevier Saunders.KASPER, D. L., & HARRISON, T. R. (2005). Harrisons principles of internal medicine. New York, McGraw-Hill, Medical Pub. Division.