How brushing your teeth lowers your risk of cancer

Here's yet another reason to remember to brush your teeth after eating. After the link between oral sex and cancer of the throat from HPV was brought to light in recent months, new research in the journal Cancer Prevention Research has found that poor dental hygiene and gum disease are also risk factors for the oral infection. People with poor oral health were 56% more likely to get an HPV infection than those with good dental health, the University of Texas Health Sciences Center study found. "The good news is, the risk factor is modifiable – by maintaining good oral hygiene and good oral health, one can prevent HPV infection and subsequent HPV-related cancers," explains study author Thanh Cong Bui.

CNN, 8/23/13