Alcohol and Oral Cancer

Oral cancer screenings are one of the services we offer our adult patients at Bernstein Dental Care in Bay Ridge as an important part of biannual check-ups. As scientists learn more about oral cancer, we’re getting better at identifying risk factors. The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) recently announced that one oral cancer risk factor is alcohol.


We’ve long known that alcohol combined with tobacco presented a major risk. But tobacco is the biggest oral cancer risk factor, and separating its effect from that of alcohol alone proved difficult. Scientists have now concluded that alcohol alone, even in moderation, does increase a person’s risk of developing oral cancer by 5%. Why is unclear, but it is thought that alcohol damages the lining of the mouth and that the more times the soft tissue has to rebuild, the likelier it is that the DNA will be miscopied. Heavy drinking still presents a greater risk, but the type of alcohol consumed appears to be irrelevant. The ASCO did have some good news: people who stopped drinking lowered their risk of oral and oropharyngeal cancer to the level of people who never drank.


Dr. Paul Bernstein runs Bernstein Dental Care at 350 91st St, Suite 1C, Brooklyn, New York, 11209. To schedule an appointment, visit Bernstein Dental Care or call 718-833-9191.


 

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