Dental Plaque Linked To Cancer Risk

Many people would think that dental health is isolated only in the mouth and this does not have any risk for other parts of the body. But it was found out that dental plaque was linked to possible risk of cancer. In order to get rid of this plaque in your teeth, frequent brushing and flossing your teeth is recommended to keep plaque off your teeth. Nobody would have thought that dental plaque is a possible culprit of cancer. Studies show that poor dental health could lead to a number of cancer diseases. Other dental issues cause a number of other consequences such as bad breath, bleeding gums, and cavities which later on develops as plaque.

What is Plaque?

Plaque is a form of biofilm or an accumulation of microorganism on the surface of your mouth. It looks like a white/pale yellow slime-like layer and is mostly found between the teeth in along some crevices on the teeth. Plaque is also known as microbial plaque, oral biofilm or dental biofilm.

How to get rid of Plaque?

Removal of dental plaque is vital to keep your dental health because it may become acidic which may cause demineralization of the teeth or harden into tartar. So before these would get worse, the plaque should be removed. The most basic way to get rid of plaque is regular brushing of your teeth. But if plaque has already developed into something more than plaque, such as tartar, professional cleaning of your teeth should be done by a professional dentist.

What do studies show?

This issue has already been dated back since 1985 where Söder and associates have started a study on dental plaque and its effects on cancer. They randomly did the study on 1390 healthy Swedish adults between the ages of 30 and 40. The subjects of the study were made to do some periodic checkups with smoking habits and dental health up to the year 2009. The dental plaque checkups were taken from 1985, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2009. In the course of the 24-year study, 58 subjects died which includes 35 deaths caused by malignancies.

For those subjects that are still alive have been found to have a low dental plaque index. Among all of the subjects, after follow-up check-up, it was found that age and male gender doubled the possibility of premature death. It was also found in that study that the average age of death for women was 61 years old and for men is 60 years old. According to demographic data, women are considered to live longer for about 35 years and while men, 8.5 years longer. So, the researchers have concluded that their death is premature. The researchers had some idea that there might be a link between dental plaque and cancer because women with more plaque on their teeth are more likely to develop breast cancer. They have also found that the apparent reason of the link would probably would be because of inflammation that is developed due to bacteria build-up in the mouth. Enzymes and toxins can be carried to the bloodstream that can cause weak cells to divide frantically to form tumors.

For more information Contact Us Now!