[pessimizer]

The real question always is: assuming causation, if you drastically improve the oral health of 1000 people, how many would you save from pancreatic cancer? The answer to this question in associative studies is very often in the single figures, or lower (i.e. fractions of people.)

Anything to create an excuse to provide better dental care for people, though. The chance of getting a gum infection that spreads to your brain and/or goes septic is actually quite high.

[pixl97]

Dental health is also correlated with a number of other illnesses and there is some literature suggesting different pathogens as a cause. Instead of looking at just one illness/death prevented it may be a much higher number if all forms are considered.

[pessimizer]

I don't know why this is always controversial in modern society, but it's always important to do the math, rather than immediately go all in on whatever supports your current lifestyle or the lifestyles of the people that you admire or fetishize.

There are plenty of good reasons to give people medical care. Clean mouths may be beneficial in many other ways other than allowing me to be within 5' of you when your mouth is open. Militant advocacy for innumeracy is a worse disease than pancreatic cancer, though.

I once had a gum infection so bad that the uncontrollable diarrhea it gave me had me so dehydrated, I was afraid I was going to pass out and die alone in my apartment (as has happened to many, many people.) I went to the emergency room and I had to beg them to pay attention to me at all. They recommended a dentist appointment. I could barely stand. Finally, one that wasn't mentally disabled recognized my distress and gave me an IV. Do you think this would change if I said that it might triple my risk of pancreatic cancer from nearly nothing to nearly nothing?

No. This study is something to add a completely spurious and inconsequential fact to toothpaste commercials, that's it. It reaches no conclusion that could help anyone with anything. If they intend to isolate the particular microbes that are more associated, and if those have an association with something that may also have an association with pancreatic cancer; or anything other than the p-hacking that this sounds like, it would be a different story.

[elric]

Not just pancreatic cancer, but heart disease, heck even general quality of life. It's hard to get good nutrition without teeth.