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Introduction: Decreased salivation (sialopenia, hyposialia, hyposalivation) causes drying of the oral cavity mucosa (xerostomia) and makes it prone to fungal infections. Aim of the study: 1. To determine the prevalence of fungi in the oral cavity in patients with xerostomia with or without objective hyposalivation. 2. To determine the susceptibility of isolated fungi strains to antifungal drugs. Material and methods: The material was obtained from 42 individuals with xerostomia who reported to the Department of Periodontology and Diseases of the Oral Mucosa at the Medical University of Lodz. The amount of stimulated and unstimulated saliva was measured; the material collected for mycological examination consisted of mouth rinses, with a simultaneous application of Sabouraud liquid medium. Strain differentiating methods developed at the Department of Biology and Parasitology, the Medical University of Lodz were adopted in this examination. Then in vitro sensitivity of the obtained strains to nystatin, miconazole, ketoconazole, fluconazole and itraconazole was evaluated using a disc method. Results: The most frequently reported symptoms were: burning tongue, 24-hour dryness, and idiopathic pain of the oral mucosa. The mycological examination revealed the presence of fungi in the oral cavity in 92.9% of patients with objective xerostomia and in 85.7% of patients with subjective xerostomia; a statistically significant differences were found between the groups (p<0.05). C. albicans (81.1%) was the most frequently detected species; other species were observed only in individual cases. The greatest number of isolated strains of all species were sensitive to miconazole and nystatin, and the least number – to fluconazole (statistically significant differences; p<0.05). Conclusions:1. Hyposecretion of saliva causes an increase in the prevalence of Candida species in the oral cavity and the development of the pseudomembranous candidosis. 2. These cases should be primarily treated with locally acting antifungal drugs (miconazole, nystatin) to which fungal strains are highly sensitive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]