SynthesisSystematic reviews2019
Evidence of past dental visits and incidence of head and neck cancers: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Systematic reviews, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Investigating the Association Between Oral Hygiene and Oral Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Oral diseases · 2026Pooled it
- Discontinuation of dental care and systemic diseases of persons in need of long-term home care - an observational study from the InSEMaP project with German health insurance claims data.BMC geriatrics · 2026Observational
- Dental Visits, Dentist-Patient Communication, and Its Association with Oral Cancer Examination Behavior Among Tobacco/Nicotine Product Users in Western India: A Cross-Sectional Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Incidence in Japan Based on National Cancer Registry Data 2016-2019.JMA journal · 2026Article
- SWOT analysis of the dental hygiene profession in Pakistan-past, present, and future.BDJ open · 2024Article
- Article
- Photodynamic Therapy for Eye, Ear, Laryngeal Area, and Nasal and Oral Cavity Diseases: A Review.Cancers · 2024Review
- Trends in Head and Neck Cancer Mortality from 1999 to 2019 in Japan: An Observational Analysis.Cancers · 2023Article
- Oral Cancer Prevalence, Mortality, and Costs in Medicaid and Commercial Insurance Claims Data.Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology · 2022Article
- Decreased overall survival in black patients with HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer.American journal of otolaryngologyArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundRegular/frequent dental visits, at least annually, can aid in reducing the public health burden of head and neck cancers (HNCs) by facilitating earlier detection of the disease. The aim of this study was to conduct a quantitative assessment of any independent association between past dental visits/check-ups and incidence of cancers of HN/upper aerodigestive tract (UADT) and oral cavity worldwide.
methodsPubMed, CINAHL, and Cochrane databases were searched for all observational studies published until August 2017 in any language that assessed an association of past dental visits/dental check-ups among the incident cases of HNC/UADT cancers. Screening and quality assessment of the articles was performed by two independent reviewers. Three different meta-analyses were conducted: two based on the incident cancer reported in the studies (HNCs/cancers of UADT and oral cavity); another included all studies irrespective of the type of cancer reported with the frequency of past dental visits as subgroups.
resultsSearches retrieved 3164 titles: after removing duplicates, 1377 remained. Of these, 62 were reviewed in full, but only 38 were eligible for inclusion. Under the random effects model, odds of past never/irregular/not frequent dental visits were greater in HNC cases and oral cancer cases as compared to the hospital-based/population-based controls [HNCs-unadjusted odds ratio (OR) 2.24; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.89 to 2.65) and (oral cancers-OR 1.93; 95% CI 1.47 to 2.52]. Similar results were observed for all cancers with frequency of past dental visits as subgroup analysis (OR 2.01; 95% CI 1.76 to 2.30). Meta-regression findings indicate that none of the subgroup influenced the effect estimates for incidence of cancers. There was no publication bias in our study.
conclusionThis systematic review and meta-analysis indicates that individuals with never/irregular/not frequent dental visits are more likely to be incident cases of HNCs/UADT cancers.
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