Central papillary atrophy of the tongue and denture stomatitis.

A retrospective study of the epidemiologic data of 4,417 subjects has been undertaken to study the possibility of a link existing between glossal central papillary atrophy (median rhomboid glossitis) and denture stomatitis. Neither the association between glossal central papillary atrophy and denture stomatitis nor the association between glossal central papillary atrophy and denture use was statistically significant. However, the correlation between wearing removable dental prostheses and finding candidal mycelia in smears from these tongue lesions was statistically highly significant. Debilitation caused by general age changes would not appear to predispose to atrophy of the pappillae of the middle portion of the tongue-dorsum.