Chemicals in teeth whiteners may cause cancer

• Washington, DC -- Only one in ten diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity (oral cancer) is younger than 45 years.
• Many young adults lack the traditional risk factors for oral cancer, namely, long term tobacco and/or alcohol use.
• As a result, investigation of other factors which may contribute to the development of cancer in these patients is difficult because of the relative rarity of the cases and the wide array of potential carcinogens.
• Past research has revealed that heavy alcohol and tobacco use was prevalent in some young oral cancer patients, but not at a higher rate than in a control population without cancer.
• This has led clinical epidemiologists to wonder what, if any, potentially avoidable environmental exposures may predispose some young patients to develop oral cancer.
• Two young patients were diagnosed with oral cancer and both reported the use of tooth whiteners in the years before their diagnosis.
• Physician specialists and researchers joined to create a clinical history of these two patients and performed a retrospective survey of oral cancer patients to determine the prevalence of tooth whitener use in the entire population and in patients less than 45 years old.
• Background: The active ingredient in most tooth whiteners used today is carbamide peroxide.
• In general, a carbamide peroxide gel is placed in a dental tray, which is then worn by the patients for anywhere from a few hours to overnight.
• Carbamide peroxide is composed of approximately 35 percent hydrogen peroxide, and when used as a whitener in an aqueous solution, it decomposes to release hydrogen peroxide and urea.