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Test for Oral HPV?
Hi, Reading around the Internet has left me confused and I could really use a straight answer from a doctor. I'm concerned about possibly having contracted oral HPV following an oral sex encounter. Is there a test that would detect oral HPV? A test for genital HPV? How can I prevent transmitting HPV if I do in fact have it? Thank You.
Hey, Thank you so much for this information. It was very helpful
Based on what I have read on the Doctor's Forum and elsewhere, there are no FDA approved Oral HPV tests. However there are some dentists who do offer a product that you can swish in your mouth and the results will tell you if you have it or not. But their results are questionable and approved by the FDA. I took the test 3 years ago. Cost me $150 and came back negative. The dentist recommended I test again 3 months later but I never did. If you email me here, I can email you the link to that test and the dentists in your area that can test you, but I question the validity of the results. I cannot post this link here because the moderator asked me not to post links to products.
For oral HPV to be positively identified by the a doctor, an oral wart needs to be removed and biopsied. If you have a bump in your mouth, go see a dentist and if the doctor sees something, you will be referred to an oral surgeon or ENT doctor for removal and biopsy of the bump. Medical studies have also found that excessive alcohol drinking and cigarette smoking can lead to oral HPV. So if you are a sexually active smoker/drinker, your odds of getting it are increased.
There is no genital HPV test for men. Some gay men are getting anal smears to see if they have it since they have anal sex but that may not be enough. All genital skin (buttocks, scrotum, thighs, penis, pubic area) can be infected and skin from all of these areas would need be scraped off and tested to confirm genital HPV. No doctor is going to do that to you. Unless men have a visible genital wart that cam be removed and biopsied or a confirmation of a female sex partner being diagnosed with it, there is no way for men to know if they have it. This is why men are considered to be carriers, because most men are clueless if they have it or not.
The CDC claims that if you have slept with 4 or more partners in your entire life, then you have been exposed to it. About 20% chance per partner with sexually active people having multiple strains. Condoms will provide a 50% protection against transmission of it and against getting another strain. The best thing to do is to be monogamous with someone for the rest of your life as that will limit the strains you may get and limit transmitting it to just one partner should you have it. And of course the CDC claims that the only safe sex is no sex. If you have not been diagnosed with it, then do not think you have it. But common sense says you may have been exposed to it given the 20% per partner statistic.
Without an active wart, you are not infectious but this does not mean you don't have it. Some warts are invisible to the naked eye. So you could be infectious or not. Women can be tested but even negative results do not mean that they do not have it. It just means that the traces are so tiny, that the tests cannot detect it.
Bottom line: HPV is inevitable for all sexually active adults esp if you are not monogamous. If you are 26 or under, get the vaccine. Reduce the number of sex partners to reduce the odds of getting it or getting another strain and of spreading it.There is no cure should you have it but for most people it becomes dormant and you are not infectious for the rest of your life. If you sleep with someone who is sexually active, they have it too. Which is why some doctors do not recommend informing future partners if you have been diagnosed with it. 80% of sexually active adults have been exposed to it whether they know it or not. That's 8 out of 10 people you may want to date.
Sorry to be so blunt, but it is what it is. A cosmetic nuisance for most people by the presence of warts. A small percentage get cancer from it. Trying to avoid getting it or transmitting it is impossible without being celibate. That men have no test and no clue that they have it without a wart biopsy result stinks. That oral HPV cannot be detected without a visible oral wart also stinks. Take a look at the link below for more information on this STD.
http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/cid/documents/webcontent/acspc-043175-pdf.pdf
For oral HPV to be positively identified by the a doctor, an oral wart needs to be removed and biopsied. If you have a bump in your mouth, go see a dentist and if the doctor sees something, you will be referred to an oral surgeon or ENT doctor for removal and biopsy of the bump. Medical studies have also found that excessive alcohol drinking and cigarette smoking can lead to oral HPV. So if you are a sexually active smoker/drinker, your odds of getting it are increased.
There is no genital HPV test for men. Some gay men are getting anal smears to see if they have it since they have anal sex but that may not be enough. All genital skin (buttocks, scrotum, thighs, penis, pubic area) can be infected and skin from all of these areas would need be scraped off and tested to confirm genital HPV. No doctor is going to do that to you. Unless men have a visible genital wart that cam be removed and biopsied or a confirmation of a female sex partner being diagnosed with it, there is no way for men to know if they have it. This is why men are considered to be carriers, because most men are clueless if they have it or not.
The CDC claims that if you have slept with 4 or more partners in your entire life, then you have been exposed to it. About 20% chance per partner with sexually active people having multiple strains. Condoms will provide a 50% protection against transmission of it and against getting another strain. The best thing to do is to be monogamous with someone for the rest of your life as that will limit the strains you may get and limit transmitting it to just one partner should you have it. And of course the CDC claims that the only safe sex is no sex. If you have not been diagnosed with it, then do not think you have it. But common sense says you may have been exposed to it given the 20% per partner statistic.
Without an active wart, you are not infectious but this does not mean you don't have it. Some warts are invisible to the naked eye. So you could be infectious or not. Women can be tested but even negative results do not mean that they do not have it. It just means that the traces are so tiny, that the tests cannot detect it.
Bottom line: HPV is inevitable for all sexually active adults esp if you are not monogamous. If you are 26 or under, get the vaccine. Reduce the number of sex partners to reduce the odds of getting it or getting another strain and of spreading it.There is no cure should you have it but for most people it becomes dormant and you are not infectious for the rest of your life. If you sleep with someone who is sexually active, they have it too. Which is why some doctors do not recommend informing future partners if you have been diagnosed with it. 80% of sexually active adults have been exposed to it whether they know it or not. That's 8 out of 10 people you may want to date.
Sorry to be so blunt, but it is what it is. A cosmetic nuisance for most people by the presence of warts. A small percentage get cancer from it. Trying to avoid getting it or transmitting it is impossible without being celibate. That men have no test and no clue that they have it without a wart biopsy result stinks. That oral HPV cannot be detected without a visible oral wart also stinks. Take a look at the link below for more information on this STD.
http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/cid/documents/webcontent/acspc-043175-pdf.pdf
You are reading content posted in the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Community
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