{"id":29005,"date":"2026-04-03T12:00:50","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T17:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/?p=29005"},"modified":"2026-04-01T14:18:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T19:18:28","slug":"oral-hpv-in-clinical-practice-screening-risk-and-early-detection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/index.php\/2026\/04\/03\/oral-hpv-in-clinical-practice-screening-risk-and-early-detection\/","title":{"rendered":"Oral HPV in Clinical Practice: Screening, Risk, and Early Detection"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/test\/ohpv-complete\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-29008\" src=\"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/April-is-Oral-Cancer-Awareness-Month-1024x640.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"463\" height=\"290\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/April-is-Oral-Cancer-Awareness-Month-1024x640.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/April-is-Oral-Cancer-Awareness-Month-300x188.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/April-is-Oral-Cancer-Awareness-Month-768x480.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/April-is-Oral-Cancer-Awareness-Month-1536x960.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/April-is-Oral-Cancer-Awareness-Month-2048x1280.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 463px) 100vw, 463px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>April is Oral Cancer Awareness Month \u2013 a timely reminder that HPV is the leading factor and part of the cause of oral cancers, with about 70% of cases linked to the virus.(1)<\/p>\n<p>This marks a shift from the historical focus on tobacco and alcohol abuse as the cause. Today, understanding oral HPV transmission, persistence, and testing is an important stance in one&#8217;s ability to provide cutting edge patient care.<\/p>\n<h3><b>How Is Oral HPV Transmitted?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Oral HPV is a common virus that can be transmitted through:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Passage from mother to newborn<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Oral sex<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deep (open-mouth) kissing<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Most patients have no symptoms. In fact, 70\u201390% of HPV infections are asymptomatic and equally difficult to diagnose by clinical exam.(2) This is why early detection and regular screenings are particularly important.<\/p>\n<h3><b>The Impact of HPV<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HPV can cause normal cells to turn abnormal \u2013\u00a0a process patients cannot see or feel occurring. In most cases, the immune system fights off the infection naturally, and infected cells return to normal. However, in cases when the body does not fight off the virus, HPV can cause visible changes to occur and certain types can cause oral cancer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Early oral HPV infections typically do not contribute to the development of clinical signs or symptoms. When symptoms do occur, they may include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An ulcer or sore that does not heal within 2\u20133 weeks<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Red, white, or black discoloration of oral soft tissues<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Persistent sore throat<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Difficulty or pain with swallowing<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Swelling or a lump in the mouth, head, or neck<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A swollen but painless tonsil<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These findings warrant further evaluation \u2013 but waiting for symptoms alone can delay detection.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Who Should Be Tested?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consider discussing oral HPV risk assessment with patients who have:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Traditional oral cancer risk factors (tobacco use, excessive alcohol consumption)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Been sexually active<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A family history of oral cancer<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Signs or symptoms of oral cancer<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Suspicious oral lesions<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many patients with HPV-related oral cancer do not fit the traditional risk profile, making broader risk discussions important.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Adding Objective Data to the Clinical Exam<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/test\/ohpv-complete\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-29007 \" src=\"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Sample-Report_HPV-2-1024x1024.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"351\" height=\"351\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Sample-Report_HPV-2-1024x1024.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Sample-Report_HPV-2-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Sample-Report_HPV-2-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Sample-Report_HPV-2-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Sample-Report_HPV-2.png 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 351px) 100vw, 351px\" \/><\/a>Visual and tactile exams remain essential, but they cannot detect viral presence when tissues appear normal. A simple saliva test can provide additional, objective information about a patient\u2019s oral HPV status.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">OralDNA&#8217;s OraRisk HPV test detects 50 types of oral HPV across all risk categories as defined by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), allowing for a more complete assessment alongside the clinical exam.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Why test beyond high-risk types?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While high-risk HPV types are most strongly associated with malignancy, limiting testing to only those strains may overlook a substantial portion of oral HPV infections.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Among positive OraRisk HPV test results, the distribution is:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>High risk:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 46%<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Low risk:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 29%<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Unknown risk:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 25%<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Importantly, \u201clow risk\u201d and \u201cunknown risk\u201d do not mean \u201cno risk.\u201d Viral behavior, persistence, and host response vary. Broader detection provides a more complete picture of oral HPV presence and can support more informed monitoring and clinical decision-making.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>A Shift in Clinical Mindset<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/customerService\/Brochures\/HPV_Trifold.PDF\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-29006\" src=\"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/HPV_English-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"309\" height=\"366\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/HPV_English-1.png 675w, https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/HPV_English-1-253x300.png 253w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 309px) 100vw, 309px\" \/><\/a>As HPV-related oral cancers continue to rise, the traditional assumption that only tobacco and alcohol users are at significant risk is no longer sufficient. Oral Cancer Awareness Month is an opportunity to:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reevaluate screening protocols to incorporate salivary testing<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Update patient education materials\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At OralDNA, we offer free patient brochures through the OralDNA provider portal, including a digital version in Spanish!<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Incorporate HPV risk discussions into routine visits<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Are your patients at risk? Test. Don\u2019t Guess!<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>References<\/b><\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/cancer\/hpv\/basic-information.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/cancer\/hpv\/basic-information.html<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/asm.org\/articles\/2022\/december\/the-dangers-of-undiagnosed-sexually-transmitted-in\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/asm.org\/articles\/2022\/december\/the-dangers-of-undiagnosed-sexually-transmitted-in<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/get-started\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-28177 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/OralDNA_Banners-2-1024x293.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"215\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/OralDNA_Banners-2-1024x293.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/OralDNA_Banners-2-300x86.png 300w, https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/OralDNA_Banners-2-768x219.png 768w, https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/OralDNA_Banners-2-1536x439.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/OralDNA_Banners-2-2048x585.png 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>April is Oral Cancer Awareness Month \u2013 a timely reminder that HPV is the leading factor and part of the cause of oral cancers, with about 70% of cases linked to the virus.(1) This marks a shift from the historical focus on tobacco and alcohol abuse as the cause. Today, understanding oral HPV transmission, persistence, <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/index.php\/2026\/04\/03\/oral-hpv-in-clinical-practice-screening-risk-and-early-detection\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":29008,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[149,58],"tags":[85,78,7,82,83,264,148,80,3],"class_list":["post-29005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oral-cancer","category-oral-hpv","tag-chronic-inflammation-and-oral-hpv-infection","tag-clinical-lab-testing","tag-hpv","tag-hpv-head-and-neck-cancer","tag-hpv-oropharyngeal-cancer","tag-hpv-testing","tag-oral-cancer-awareness-month","tag-oral-hpv-and-cancer","tag-salivary-diagnostics"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/April-is-Oral-Cancer-Awareness-Month-scaled.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7W16z-7xP","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29005"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29005"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29005\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29018,"href":"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29005\/revisions\/29018"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}