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Adults who have a lot of cavities in their teeth are less likely to get mouth or throat cancer, a study has suggested, the Daily Mail reported.

The researchers believe that this is because the lactic acid produced by bacteria in cavities can actually prevent cancer cells from developing.

People with a lot of cavities are thought to be about 32 per cent less likely to develop mouth or throat cancer than those with no cavities.

‘This was an unexpected finding since dental cavities have been considered a sign of poor oral health along with [gum] disease, and we had previously observed an increased risk of head and neck cancers among subjects with [gum] disease,’ lead researcher Dr Mine Tezal, at the University of Buffalo, New York.

To conduct the research, the team studied 399 people with head and neck cancer.

They compared these people to 221 people who did not have cancer.

However, other experts, such as Dr Joel Epstein at the American Board of Oral Medicine, have said that this study was flawed as it only involved a small group of people and it only looked at existing cavities.