Dental plaque and cancer.

You may have heard that having infections in the mouth can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. The research reviewed investigated the association between dental plaque and cancer (Soder B, et al. 2012). The study was conducted in Sweden where the researchers randomly selected 1,390 healthy young people both females and males and followed them from 1985 to 2009. During the follow up 4.2% of the participants had died. Breast cancer was the most frequent cause of death for women while for men the malignancies were more scattered. The women had died at an average age of 61.0 and the men at 60.2 years. It also showed that the amount of dental plaque between those who had died versus survived was statistically significant. Dental plaque appeared to be a significant independent predictor associated with increased cancer mortality. The researchers point out that oral hygiene is important since microbes attached to the plaque could possibly be absorbed and transported throughout the rest of the body and be involved in promoting malignancies. Oral hygiene is no doubt important, but what they did not mention was that the biochemistry of the body can also contribute to the buildup of plaque. Even with good oral hygiene some people form plaque easier than others. One of the most important factors affecting the biochemistry of the body is the food we eat. The program you can download from Learn to Eat will explain and assist you in making important changes to improve your biochemistry and reduce inflammation.