Mouthwash use and dentures in relation to oral epithelial dysplasia

This case-control study investigated the potential association between oral epithelial dysplasia (OED) and both mouthwash and denture use. Incident OED cases aged 20-79 years were identified through two oral pathology laboratories. Controls were pair-matched (1:1) to cases on age (+/- 5 years), gender, appointment date and surgeon. A telephone interview was used to obtain exposure information. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were generated using conditional logistic regression. Based upon 127 case-control pairs and after adjusting for smoking, drinking, education and either denture or mouthwash use, the OR for OED and regular mouthwash use (1+ uses/week for 6+ months) was 0.8 (95% CI, 0.4-1.5) while the OR for OED and wearing a denture was 0.7 (95% CI, 0.4-1.3). There were no clear trends of increased OED risk with increased mouthwash use or years of denture wearing. Our findings suggest that neither mouthwash nor denture use are associated positively with OED risk.