title: Association between tooth loss and risk of oesophageal cancer: a dose-response meta-analysis.
abstract: Many epidemiological studies have found that tooth loss is associated with susceptibility to oesophageal cancer. However, a definitive answer is yet to be discovered, and the findings are inconclusive. We performed a meta-analysis to assess the relationship between tooth loss and oesophageal cancer risk. We searched PubMed and Embase databases to screen eligible studies up to June 2015. Nine observational studies (eight articles) involving 2604 patients and 113,995 participants were included in the meta-analysis. The combined odds ratio for tooth loss and oesophageal cancer was 1.53 (95 % CI 1.02-2.29) for the high versus lowest teeth loss categories. However, inconsistent results were detected in the stratified and sensitivity analysis. In dose-response analysis, the summary odds ratio for each one tooth loss increment was 1.01 (95 % CI 1.00-1.02). The current evidence, based solely on six case-control studies and three cohort studies, suggests that tooth loss is a potential marker of oesophageal cancer. However, no firm conclusion can be drawn at this time that tooth loss may play a causal role in development of oesophageal cancer. Additional large-scale and high-quality prospective studies are required to evaluate the association between tooth loss and risk of oesophageal cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Guizhou Provincial People's Hospital, Guizhou, 550002 China.
authors.forename: Yadong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics, Stomatology Hospital of Guiyang, Guizhou, 550002 China.
authors.forename: Juxiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Guizhou Provincial People's Hospital, Guizhou, 550002 China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Guizhou Provincial People's Hospital, Guizhou, 550002 China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Guizhou Provincial People's Hospital, Guizhou, 550002 China.
authors.forename: Guanglei
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Guizhou Provincial People's Hospital, Guizhou, 550002 China.
authors.forename: Siyang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Guizhou Provincial People's Hospital, Guizhou, 550002 China.
authors.forename: Xinhai
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Guizhou Provincial People's Hospital, Guizhou, 550002 China.
authors.forename: Jukun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Song