Good Oral Hygiene May Help Prevent Risk of Oral HPV

A new study shows that good oral hygiene may help prevent against the oral human papillomavirus infection.

Statistics show that the oral HPV nfection is often associated with 40 to 80 percent of mouth cancers. According to researchers at the School of Public Health at the University of Texas Sciences Center in Houston, they found that those with a 56 percent higher prevalence of oral HPV infection and those with gum disease also had a 51 percent increased chance of getting the infection.

The study looked at data from 3,439 participants aged 30 to 69 years who enrolled in the 2009-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

"Poor oral health is a new independent risk factor for oral HPV infection and, to our knowledge, this is the first study to examine this association. The good news is, this risk factor is modifiable-by maintaining good oral hygiene and good oral health, one can prevent HPV infection and subsequent HPV-related cancers," said Thanh Cong Bui, postdoctoral research fellow in the School of Public Health at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in Houston.

Various risk factors for oral HPV infections can include smoking, marijuana use and oral sex habits. Researchers have found that an association between poor oral health and HPV infections have remained despite all other risk factors.

The virus also has the possibility to gain entry through the body via ulcers, chronic inflammation in the mouth or mucosal disruption. However, researchers note that further studies need to be conducted in order to confirm this hypothesis.

The study is published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research.