Oral Thrush

The methods used in diagnosis depend, in part, on whether thrush is limited to your mouth or may have spread to your esophagus.

If thrush is limited to your mouth

To diagnose oral thrush, your medical or dental professional may:

• Look in your mouth to see the white patches or spots.
• Take a small scraping of the areas to study under a microscope.

If needed, your healthcare professional will do a physical exam and order blood tests to try to find any underlying medical condition that may be causing the oral thrush.

If symptoms also seem to come from your esophagus

If you have trouble swallowing and feel pain or feel as if food is getting stuck in your throat, your healthcare professional can find out if thrush has spread to your esophagus. Your healthcare professional may recommend:

• An endoscopic exam. Your healthcare professional checks your esophagus, stomach and upper part of your small intestine using a lighted, flexible tube with a camera on the tip, called an endoscope.
• A biopsy. If the endoscopic exam shows thrush or other unusual findings, your healthcare professional takes a tissue sample and sends it to the lab. This helps figure out which bacteria or fungi, if any, are causing symptoms.
• A physical exam and more tests. If the biopsy results show thrush, a physical exam and more tests may be done to try to find any underlying medical condition that could cause thrush in the esophagus.