Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is one of the most common types of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) with a poor survival rate. In the present study, the involvement of tectonic 1 (TCTN1) in OSCC was explored. The relevance between TCTN1 and HNSCC clinicopathological features was first analyzed and it was revealed that TCTN1 was associated with the tumor clinical stage and grade. In in vitro experiments, it was demonstrated that the proliferative, migratory and invasive capacity of OSCC CAL27 cells and SCC15 cells was significantly suppressed due to TCTN1 knockdown. Additionally, the core promoter of TCTN1 was confirmed and transcription factor AP‑2 alpha (TFAP2A) was suggested as a regulator of TCTN1 mRNA expression. On the whole, the present study elucidated the direct association between TCTN1 and OSCC for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, and the TFAP2A/TCTN1 axis was suggested as a potential novel therapeutic target for OSCC.