Association between dental scaling and the lower risk of oral cancer: A population-based nested case-control study

Oral cancer is a common malignancy that associates with oral inflammatory reactions. Dental scaling can effectively reduce periodontal inflammation to facilitate oral health. This may contribute to a less conducive environment for oral cancer initiation and progression. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between dental scaling and oral cancer.

A retrospective nested case-control study was conducted by using Taiwanese Longitudinal Health Insurance Database. This study captured patients with oral cancer identified from the cancer registry. Each oral cancer patient was matched with eight non-oral cancer controls based on age and sex. Conditional logistic regression was use to assess the association between the last dental scaling prior to the index date and oral cancer occurrence.

Dental scaling significantly lowered the risk of oral cancer occurrence (aOR: 0.75, 95 % CI: 0.67-0.85). Individuals with different intervals of dental scaling prior to the index date showed a lower rate of oral cancer than those who did not received dental scaling (P < 0.001). In addition, the utility of dental scaling was found significantly associated with oral cancer stages (P < 0.001). Oral cancer patients with dental scaling prior to the index date presented a lower chance toward advanced oral cancer stage than those oral cancer patients without any dental scaling.

Taken together, this nationwide population-based study indicated that dental scaling exhibited a significantly lower risk of oral cancer in Taiwanese population.