More Cancer Deaths Because of Dental Plaque?

Researchers pondered upon the fact that too much and recurrent dental plaque might increase the risk for death from cancer.

BMJ Open has featured the details of an observational study where researchers pondered upon the fact that too much and recurrent dental plaque might increase the risk for death from cancer.

The dental plaque is made up of bacteria which basically stick to the tooth and the gums, thus further causing dental health problems such as tooth loss, severe gum disease, inflammatory problems, and so on.

Researchers have set out to analyze in depth whether the dental plaque may be an influencing factor upon the risk of death from cancerous diseases. Dental plaque causes inflammation and may also cause severe infections, and both these conditions play a key role in many types of cancers.

The researches have analyzed closely about 1,400 adults from Sweden between 30 and 40 years old, for a time span 24 years. When the study began back in the 80’s these patients have been asked about whether they smoke to see if they are at a higher or lower risk for developing lung cancer. Then, they asked patients details regarding their oral hygiene, with focus on gum disease complications, levels of tartar and dental plaque, or any tooth loss complications.

Now, when the study was over after 24 years, the researchers recorded 58 deaths, with 1/3 being female patients. What is even more shocking is that 35 from the 58 deaths were due to a certain kind of cancer. The predominant type of cancer that women patients died of, was breast cancer.

What the researchers further found was that patients who died did have significantly higher levels of plaque deposits on their teeth. Most of the patients had even their gums partially covered with plaque.

The researchers also checked the plaque levels of the survivors from the study, and they noted that the patients had much lower levels of such deposits (on average only 0.66 vs. 0.91).

The researches concluded that dental plaque is definitely a contributor to the increased risk of premature death. They say dental plaque does not directly contribute to cancer, but it is a huge risk factor, and this is why it is important to eliminate all plaque when you visit the dentist.