Relationship between dental factors and risk of upper aerodigestive tract cancer

Abstract

We examined the relationship between dental health variables and risk of upper aerodigestive tract (UADT) cancers in a case-control study in Southern Brazil. The study population included 717 cases of cancers of the mouth, pharynx, and larynx and 1434 controls matched on age, gender, period of admission and study site. The association with dental factors was investigated by conditional logistic regression using extensive adjustment for a priori and empirical confounders, including tobacco and alcohol consumption, diet and sociodemographic variables. Lifetime use of dentures was not associated with risk of any UADT cancer, but history of oral sores secondary to ill-fitting dentures was associated with cancers of the mouth (odds ratio [OR] = 2.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2-4.6) and of the pharynx (OR = 2.7, 95% CI 1.1-6.2) among those using dentures. The association for mouth cancers was restricted primarily to an increased risk of tongue neoplasms (OR = 9.1, 95% CI 1.9-43.4). Less than daily tooth brushing frequency was also associated with risk of cancer of the tongue (OR = 2.1, 95% CI 1.0-4.3) and of other parts of the mouth (OR = 2.4, 95% CI 1.0-5.4). Having broken teeth was not significantly associated with risk of UADT cancer of any site. We conclude that poor oral hygiene due to infrequent tooth brushing and sores caused by dentures are risk factors for cancer of the mouth and that these associations are unlikely to be due to insufficient control of confounding.

Epidemiologic factors in patients with advanced head and neck cancer treated with radiation therapy

“…A smaller case‐control study of HNC patients from Taiwan found lack of regular dental visits, brushing teeth <2 times a day, gum bleeding and loss of more than 20 teeth were associated with higher risk of HNC 13 . A Brazilian case‐control study of HNC identified less than daily tooth brushing and sores caused by dentures as risk factors for HNC 14 . A Swedish case‐control study of oral and oropharyngeal SSCs identified poor oral hygiene, more than 5 defective teeth, more than 20 missing teeth and defective or malfunctioning dentures as risk factors for HNC 15 .…”

A review of the relationship between tooth loss, periodontal disease, and cancer

“…Associations with osteoporosis, respiratory disease, and systemic infections have also been observed [10,13,20,21]. In addition, the results of several epidemiologic studies have suggested a possible positive association between periodontal disease and cancer risk in different tissues, most notably in the mouth, upper gastrointestinal system, lung, and pancreas [3,[22][23][24][25][26][27]. In light of recent findings between periodontal disease, oral health, and carcinogenesis, a review of the current literature in this area is presented.…”

Periodontitis, oral hygiene habits, and risk of upper aerodigestive tract cancers: a case-control study in Maharashtra, India

“…[50] The merit of our study is that it used full mouth examination as well as interviewer-based questionnaires to assess periodontal status. Parameters considered in other studies [5,51,52] may not be as reliable as tooth loss may not be related to periodontal disease, and periodontal indices as well as self-assessment questionnaires may underestimate the prevalence of periodontitis status. Nevertheless, this study has some limitations as well: since this is a hospital based case-control study, it is subjected to selection and recall bias, it was also not possible to blind the interviewers to case/control status during intra-oral examinations.…”