Objective This study aimed to observe the clinical effects of submental island flap(SIF) for repairing oral defects after oral cancer surgery. Methods A retrospective analysis of 60 cases of postoperative oral cancer defects in patients with clinical data was performed. The experimental group and the control group were subjected to treatment(30 cases in each group). SIF was used to repair postoperative defects in the experimental group. By contrast, the defects of the control group were treated by using the radial forearm flap after surgery. A significant difference occurred between the two groups. Results The clinical efficacy of the 25 cases in the experimental group was excellent, and 4 cases were good. Approximately 96.7% of the cases in the experimental group achieved excellent and good ratings. In the control group, 20 cases were excellent, and6 cases were good. Approximately 86.7% of the cases in the control group achieved excellent and good ratings. Thus, the two groups had no significant difference(P>0.05). The mean operation time in the experimental group was (45.72±7.64) min. The mean operation time in the control group was (60.14±10.68) min. Thus, a statistically significant difference(P