> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.foodconsumer.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Mouthwash use linked to oral cavity cancer, oropharynx cancer
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/mouthwash_use_oral_cavity_cancer_0808160221/
- Published: 2016-08-08T15:19:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T16:31:02.000Z
- Description: Pooling 12 case-control studies, researchers found mouthwash users were 11 percent more likely to be diagnosed with oral cavity cancer and 28 percent more likely with oropharyngeal cancer, with no link to head and neck cancers overall. The study does not establish cause.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Lifestyle, Health News, #vivvo-import

Monday August 8, 2016 (foodconsumer.org) -- Your dentist may have encouraged you and your kids to use mouthwash as a measure to prevent dental diseases. They do not tell you that mouthwash uses may increase risk of cancer of the oral cavity and oropharynx.

A study based on data from 12 case-control studies found that people who used mouthwash were 11% and 28% more likely to be diagnosed with the cancer in the oral cavity and oropharynx, respectively.

There is no link between mouthwash and risk for all head and neck cancers.

The study is not intended to establish a causal relation between mouthwash use and elevated risk for the cancer of the oral cavity and oropharynx. But the possibility that mouthwash use may increase the risk cannot be excluded. Mouthwashes often contain antibacterial agents and some are known cancer causing agents. (David Liu)

[*Gavin Wilson and David I Conway, Mouthwash use and associated head and neck cancer risk, Evidence-Based Dentistry (2016) 17, 8–9\. doi:10.1038/sj.ebd.6401146*](http://www.nature.com/ebd/journal/v17/n1/abs/6401146a.html?ref=foodconsumer.org)