HPV and Oral Cancer: What to Know

By Dr. Boris Zusin · Published August 2, 2026

HPV (human papillomavirus) is usually discussed in the context of cervical cancer, but it plays a major role in oral and throat cancer too — a connection that's become much clearer in recent years and that changes how oral cancer screening should be thought about.

How Strong Is the Link?

According to the CDC, HPV is thought to cause an estimated 60–70% of oropharyngeal cancers in the United States — cancers of the back of the throat, including the base of the tongue and the tonsils. This is a substantial shift from decades past, when tobacco and heavy alcohol use were the dominant risk factors; HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer is now a distinct and increasingly common category, including in patients without the traditional risk factors.

How Common Is Oral HPV?

Oral HPV infection itself is relatively common — more common in men than women, and more common with increasing age. The good news is that most people clear the infection within one to two years without ever knowing they had it. In a smaller subset of people, the infection persists, and it's this persistent infection, over years, that carries the cancer risk.

Why There's No Simple Screening Test

This is a common point of confusion: there is currently no FDA-approved test to diagnose oral HPV, and medical and dental organizations don't recommend routine HPV testing as a screening tool on its own. Not all oropharyngeal cancers can be caught through a routine visual exam until they're at a more advanced stage, which is part of why prevention matters as much as detection.

What Actually Works

Two things: routine oral cancer screening as a standard part of your dental checkup — a visual and physical exam looking for the kinds of tissue changes that can signal a developing problem, plus a history of any symptoms — and HPV vaccination, which the CDC recommends for adolescents and for adults through age 26 who haven't already been vaccinated, as the most effective way to reduce risk in the first place.

Oral cancer screening is included in your routine visit at Zusin Dental — learn more on our Oral Cancer Screening page, or see the broader picture on our mouth-body connection page.