[A case-control study: association between oral hygiene and oral cancer in non-smoking and non-drinking women]

Objective: To evaluate the influence of oral hygiene on risk of oral cancer in non-smoking and non-drinking women. Methods: From September 2010 to February 2016, 242 non-smoking and non-drinking female patients with pathologically confirmed oral cancer were recruited in a hospital of Fuzhou, and another 856 non-smoking and non-drinking healthy women from health examination center in the same hospital were selected as control group. Five oral hygiene related variables including the frequency of teeth brushing, number of teeth lost, poor prosthesis, regular dental visits and recurrent dental ulceration were used to develop oral hygiene index model. Unconditional logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) was used to evaluate the predictability of the oral hygiene index model. Multivariate logistic regression model was used to analyze the association between oral hygiene index and the incidence of oral cancer. Results: Teeth brushing <2 twice daily, teeth lost ≥5, poor prosthesis, no regular dental visits, recurrent dental ulceration were risk factors for the incidence of oral cancer in non-smoking and non-drinking women, the corresponding OR (95%CI) were 1.50 (1.08-2.09), 1.81 (1.15-2.85), 1.51 (1.03-2.23), 1.73 (1.15-2.59), 7.30 (4.00-13.30), respectively. The AUROC of the oral hygiene index model was 0.705 9, indicating a high predictability. Multivariate logistic regression showed that the oral hygiene index was associated with risk of oral cancer. The higher the score, the higher risk was observed. The corresponding OR (95%CI) of oral hygiene index scores (score 1, score 2, score 3, score 4-5) were 2.51 (0.84-7.53), 4.68 (1.59-13.71), 6.47 (2.18-19.25), 15.29 (5.08-45.99), respectively. Conclusion: Oral hygiene could influence the incidence of oral cancer in non-smoking and non-drinking women, and oral hygiene index has a certain significance in assessing the combined effects of oral hygiene.