People with poor to fair oral health are more likely to be infected with the human papillomavirus, according to a recent study published in Cancer Prevention Research.
 
HPV is sexually transmitted and causes cancers of the cervix, mouth and throat.
 
Some experts said the study, which is the first to show a link between the infection and poor oral health, found a “modest association,” and that it relied for the most part on self-reported data about oral health, according to a report in the New York Times. Moreover, it goes too far at this point to assume that brushing and flossing regularly can prevent oral HPV infection.
 
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston reviewed data on 3,349 adults between 30 and 69, who participated in the 2009-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the report says.
 
Being male and a smoker with multiple oral sex partners increased the likelihood of oral HPV infection, as had been found in an earlier analysis of NHANES data, but this study also found that self-rated poor oral health was an independent risk for oral HPV infection after controlling for smoking and the number of oral sex partners.
 
HPV-linked throat cancer is on the rise, especially among middle-aged white men, with about 25,000 cases a year diagnosed in the U.S., the report says.
 
Christine Markham, second author on the paper, said she believes that sores, lesions, gum inflammation or any opening in the mouth could provide entry for HPV.
 
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