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Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Know Your Teeth Academy of General Dentistry Know Your Teeth

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Talk to Your Dentist About Sex

 
Chapter: Oral STD Survey Results

According to the study's author, Larry N. Williams, DDS, MAGD, 60 percent of surveyed college students do not equate oral-genital contact with sex. And more than 55 percent of teenagers admitted to engaging in oral sexual acts.

 

Ninety percent of those who contract the oral component of an STD – such as gonorrhea – may not show outward signs of being sick. The remaining 10 percent exhibit symptoms such as gum swelling and discharge and some bleeding.

 

Dr. Williams says patients may also experience flu-like symptoms. He added that while it is possible for an oral STD to be asymptomatic in the mouth, there may well be a genital component that does show symptoms. Additionally, studies have shown that 25 percent of those with genital gonorrhea may have an oral component. Gonorrhea was pegged by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the second most common STD in 2005, with an estimated 340,000 cases reported every year. Patients with gonorrhea are typically in their 20s, often live in urban areas and are more often black than white.
 
Reviewed: January 2012