At Hiroshima University, surgeons studying 339 pancreatic cancer patients discovered that the number of natural teeth a person retains may quietly foretell how long they will survive after surgery — not because teeth aid digestion, but because their loss appears to mark decades of accumulated systemic strain. Those with 21 or more natural teeth outlived those with fewer by nearly two years, a gap that held firm even after accounting for tumor stage and treatment. The finding invites medicine to reconsider the mouth as a ledger of lifelong resilience, and the dental exam as a window into the bo
Natural tooth count predicts pancreatic cancer survival, study finds
Pancreatic cancer patients with poor oral health face significantly reduced survival outcomes after surgery, with median survival reduced by nearly two years.