Data sources PubMed, CINAHL, and Cochrane databases.Study selection Papers reporting a primary study with any population, one or both genders specified, participants of any age, incidence of any cancer subsite of HN, and UADT reported as the health outcome, frequency of dental visits/check-ups prior to the diagnosis of one of these cancers (assessed as the exposure), and availability of sufficient data to estimate the measure of association, ie, unadjusted odds ratio (OR) along with its corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI).Data extraction and synthesis Two reviewers independently screened the title and abstract of the identified citations. Full texts of citations judged as potentially eligible were acquired by at least one of the two reviewers. Thereafter, both the reviewers used a standardised and pilot-tested form to independently screen every full text for eligibility. Methodological quality of the studies was assessed using the quality assessment tool for quantitative studies developed by the Effective Public Health Practice Project (EPHPP)Results After initial search of 1377 studies, thirty-eight articles were included in the analysis for systemic review including 32 case-control and six other design studies not limited to cross-sectional, observational, case-series, and screening. Finally, twenty-six case-control studies were included in the meta-analysis. Subgroup analyses of studies in meta-analysis showed the overall pooled estimate risk was (OR 2.01; 95% CI 1.76 to 2.30, P <0.001). The test for heterogeneity produced Tau square of 0.00, Q = 36.33, I2 = 31.76%, test for overall effect z = 9.24, (P <0.001). No publication bias was observed in the meta analysis. Conclusions Individuals with never/irregular/not frequent dental visits are more likely to be incident cases of HNCs/UADT cancers. Targeted education to alert those at risk about OCs and other HNCs, and the warning signs, and better training coupled with opportunistic oral cavity examinations by dentists could reduce the burden of this disease.

中文翻译：

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过去的牙科就诊与头颈部 (HN)、上呼吸消化道 (UADT) 和口腔癌的发病率之间是否存在关联？

数据来源 PubMed、CINAHL 和 Cochrane 数据库。研究选择论文报告了一项主要研究，其中包含任何人群、指定的一种或两种性别、任何年龄的参与者、HN 的任何癌症亚部位的发病率，以及 UADT 报告为健康结果、频率在诊断其中一种癌症之前进行牙科访问/检查（评估为暴露），以及有足够的数据来估计相关性的度量，即未经调整的优势比 (OR) 及其相应的 95% 置信区间(CI). 数据提取与合成 两名审稿人独立筛选所识别引文的标题和摘要。被判断为可能符合条件的引文全文由两名审稿人中的至少一名获得。此后，两位评审员都使用标准化和经过试点测试的表格来独立筛选每个全文的资格。研究的方法学质量使用由有效公共卫生实践项目 (EPHPP) 开发的定量研究质量评估工具进行评估。结果在初步搜索 1377 项研究后，38 篇文章被纳入系统评价分析，其中包括 32 个案例-对照和其他六项设计研究，不限于横断面、观察性、病例系列和筛查。最后，荟萃分析纳入了 26 项病例对照研究。荟萃分析中研究的亚组分析显示，总体汇总估计风险为（OR 2.01；95% CI 1.76 至 2.30，P <0.001）。异质性检验产生 0.00 的 Tau 平方，Q = 36.33，I2 = 31.76%，检验整体效应 z = 9.24，（P <0.001）。在荟萃分析中未观察到发表偏倚。结论从不/不定期/不频繁牙科就诊的个体更有可能是 HNCs/UADT 癌症的事件病例。有针对性的教育以提醒有风险的人注意 OC 和其他 HNC 以及警告标志，以及更好的培训加上牙医的机会性口腔检查，可以减轻这种疾病的负担。