While we may think that oral health is not that important, poor oral health is found to be associated with 75 per cent increased risk of the most common form of cancer, suggests a study.
The study by researchers at Queen’s University Belfast analysed a large cohort of over 469,000 people in the UK, investigated the association between oral health conditions and the risk of a number of gastrointestinal cancers, including liver, colon, rectum and pancreatic cancer.
While no significant associations were observed on the risk of the majority gastrointestinal cancers and poor oral health, a substantial link was found for hepatobiliary cancer.
“Poor oral health has been associated with the risk of several chronic diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, and diabetes,” explained Dr Haydee WT Jordao, from the Centre of Public Health at Queen’s University Belfast and lead author of the study.
“However, there is inconsistent evidence on the association between poor oral health and specific types of gastrointestinal cancers, which is what our research aimed to examine,” continued Dr Haydee.
Of the 469,628 participants, 4,069 developed gastrointestinal cancer during the (average) six-year follow up. In 13 per cent of these cases, patients reported poor oral health.
Participants with poor oral health were more likely to be younger, female, living in deprived socioeconomic areas and consumed less than two portions of fruit and vegetables per day.