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