TNF and periodontitis: In our study, the expression of inflammatory cytokines in OSCC showed that periodontitis-associated bacteria significantly (p < 0.05) upregulated IL-6, TNF-α, IL-18, ASC (up to six times), and caspase-1 (up to four times) but downregulated NF-κB, NLRP3, and IL-1β (less than 0.5 times).