HPV and Oral Cancer

As part of The Oyster Bay Family Dentists’ observance of Oral Cancer Awareness Month, we’re teaching our patients about the changing landscape of oral pathologies. Last year, the rate of new oral cancer diagnoses associated with the human papilloma virus (HPV) outpaced diagnoses of new cases of tobacco-associated oral cancer for the first time, and we in the medical community are left relying more heavily on our patients than ever before to help us keep them safe.

HPV-associated oral cancer usually occurs in the back of the mouth and the top of the throat, which is why medical literature sometimes calls it “oropharyngeal” cancer. The tissue of this region is so deeply creviced that randomly scraping it is unlikely to catch an HPV infection. Even if HPV were caught, that may not prove helpful, because 80% of American adults get an HPV infection at least once in their lives, but only one out of nearly two hundred strains of HPV is believed to cause oral cancer.

Because throat cancer may not be easy to see, patients should request examinations if they are experiencing pain, numbness, or swelling in their throats or in the region between their ears and jaws. Throat cancer can still be checked for with a tactile examination and HPV-associated cancers are easier to treat than tobacco-associated cancers, but adults should not think that avoiding smoking makes them immune to oral cancer.

Drs. Denise VeyVoda and Robert G. West operate The Oyster Bay Family Dentists at 123 South Street, Oyster Bay, New York, 11771. To schedule an appointment, call 516-922-5730 or visit OysterBayDentists.com and fill out a contact sheet.