Daily
tooth brushing and annual dentist visits may reduce the risk of head and
neck cancers by a small margin, according to a recent study by Hashin et al. of
the department of preventive medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount
Sinai in New York.
The
researchers combined data from 13 past studies including a total of almost
9,000 oropharyngeal, hypopharyngeal, and pharyngeal cancer patients and more than 12,000 comparison
subjects without cancer. The studies were done in the Americas, Europe and
Japan. In all of them, oral hygiene was assessed based on gum disease or
bleeding, missing teeth, daily tooth brushing, visiting a dentist at least once
per year and whether a person wore dentures.
Individuals
with fewer than five missing teeth, annual dentist visits, daily tooth brushing
and no gum disease had lower risk than others of having head and neck cancer.
Wearing dentures was not related to cancer risk.
The indicators of oral
hygiene/health used in the study are all connected with chronic irritation to
the head and neck and are indicative of tooth wear, mechanical trauma, and
general health maintenance.
The
authors conclude that good oral hygiene, as characterized by few missing teeth,
annual dentist visits, and daily tooth brushing, may modestly reduce the risk
of head and neck cancer.
