It’s Oral Cancer Awareness Month, and we want to forthrightly address a topic that some might find difficult to discuss—the relationship between HPV and oral cancer. We will shed light on the symptoms, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of HPV-related oral cancer in order to prioritize your health and safety.
Statistics:
The American Dental Association’s (ADA) Mouth Healthy article, “HPV and Oral Cancer: Head, Neck and Oral Cancers,” provides several important statistics about oral cancer and human papilloma virus (HPV). It says that HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States, with 14 million new cases each year diagnosed. Some types of HPV affect the mouth and throat, so that it is associated with 9,000 cases of head and neck cancers each year in the U.S.
HPV-related head and neck cancer also tends to impact specific populations more. The above article adds that it is four times more common in men than women. The ADA Mouth Healthy article, “Top 5 Risk Factors for Oral Cancer” also explains that those affected tend to be younger than those with other cancer diagnoses.
Symptoms:
The ADA’s Mouth Healthy article, “HPV and Oral Cancer: Head, Neck and Oral Cancers,” details the below signs and symptoms of HPV-related head and neck cancers. It explains that symptoms typically develop in the throat, at the back of the tongue, and near or in the folds of the tonsils. This makes it difficult to detect. Early diagnosis is associated with the best outcomes, and for this reason, this ADA article advices to let your dentist know of these symptoms, especially if you’ve had them for two weeks or more.
- A sore, or soreness/irritation that doesn’t go away
- Red or white patches, or pain, tenderness, or numbness in mouth or lips
- Lumps, thickening tissues, rough spots, crusty or eroded areas
- Difficulty chewing, swallowing, speaking, or moving your jaw or tongue
- A change in the way your teeth fit together when you close your mouth
The article adds that some patients also experience a persistent sore throat, a feeling like something is caught in their throat, hoarseness, a change in voice, earaches, pain when swallowing, and unexplained weight loss.
Diagnosis:
An oral cancer screening at Boulevard Dental consists of the following:
- We palpate along your neck and jaw to feel for any unusual or enlarged lymph nodes.
- We check your lips (inside and out), the inside of your cheeks, the floor of your mouth, and your hard and soft palate.
- We ask you to stick out your tongue to check it thoroughly.
- We look at the back of your throat.
Prevention:
At Boulevard Dental, we strive to create an atmosphere where our patients feel safe talking about their lifestyle choices. We see it as our job to come along side of our patients and educate them about how these lifestyle choices can impact their risk of HPV-related oral cancer.
Treatment:
The ADA Mouth Heathy article, “Oral Cancer,” provides information about potential treatments for oral cancer. It explains that oral cancers that are found early are usually treated with surgery or radiation therapy. Cases that are found later may need a combination of treatments. For example, radiation therapy and chemotherapy might be given at the same time. Another option is targeted therapy, a newer type of cancer treatment that uses drugs or other substances to pinpoint and attack cancer cells. If you have oral cancer, the treatment your cancer care team recommends will depend on your overall health, the area of the mouth or throat where your cancer began, the size and type of tumor, and whether or not the cancer has spread.
At Boulevard Dental, we take patient education about HPV and oral cancer very seriously. While we regularly screen for oral cancer, you can also be on the look-out for oral cancer symptoms if you are aware of them. And we know that you will be even more empowered if you can take steps to decrease the risk factors of HPV-related oral cancer before it has a chance to develop. This is our sincere hope for you.
References:
HPV and Oral Cancer: Head, Neck and Oral Cancers. Mouth Healthy. https://www.mouthhealthy.org/all-topics-a-z/hpv-and-oral-cancer. Accessed April 7, 2025.
Oral Cancer. Mouth Healthy. https://www.mouthhealthy.org/all-topics-a-z/oral-cancer. Accessed April 7, 2025.
Top 5 Risk Factors for Oral Cancer. Mouth Healthy. https://www.mouthhealthy.org/en/oral-cancer-slideshow. Accessed April 12, 2019.