Researchers conducted a retrospective analysis of 881 patients with oral cavity or oropharyngeal cancers seen through a tertiary referral hospital between 2001 and 2011. Eighty-seven of the 390 mouth cancer patients were nonsmokers, as were 48 of 334 patients with oropharyngeal cancer.
The study found that oral cancers occurred on the lateral tongue, a potential site of chronic dental trauma, in 57 nonsmokers compared with 107 smokers or ex-smokers. Also, 26 patients had dental abnormalities recorded in close proximity to where their tumor developed.
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