ORAL HEALTH STATUS AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH ANTI-OXIDANT DEFENSE OF SALIVA, AS A PREVENTIVE FACTOR AGAINST ORO-PHARYNGEAL CANCERS

Objective: A recent trend in oral health research has highlighted the possible role of poor oral hygiene in upper digestive tract carcinomas. The burden of these cancers is so great that it would be a huge step if we could prevent them instead of struggling for cure. However, no study has yet carried out to explain the relationship between oral hygiene and upper digestive tract carcinomas. We hypothesized that it could be assigned to the saliva anti-cancer defense properties. The anti-oxidant activity of saliva is a known defense against carcinogenesis. Therefore, we studied the correlation between oral health indexes–Community Periodontal Index of Treatment Needs (CPITN) and Decayed, Missing, Filled Teeth (DMFT)–and total anti-oxidant capacity of whole saliva, as a possible explanation for the role of oral health in oropharyngeal carcinognesis.

Subjects and Methods: Ninety healthy adults (30 to 49 years of age) participated in the study. Their unstimulated whole saliva total anti-oxidant capacities, CPITN score and DMFT score were measured and were analyzed. The anti-oxidant capacity of saliva samples are measured via ELISA technique.

Results: Number of extracted and decayed teeth correlates negatively with saliva total anti-oxidant capacity (P<0.001). There was not any significant association between CPITN score and total anti-oxidant capacity of saliva (P=0.090).

Conclusion: Findings indicated that increased number of missing teeth weakens the anti-oxidant defense of saliva.