Spotting the signs

What better topic could dental professionals be reminded of when it comes to celebrating Valentine’s Day? Practising safer sex, of course, and keeping an eye on oral manifestations of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) or sexually transmitted infections (STIs). STIs in the mouth can be acquired when practising unprotected oral sex:

Signs and symptoms in the mouth tend to vary depending on the STD present, some of the most common ones are:

There are STIs which are contagious but have little to no oral manifestations, such as chlamydia, pubic lice, trichomoniasis, hepatitis (A, B, C) and scabies. STIs being contracted via oral sex is not as common as vaginal and anal intercourse, but there is still a risk of oral transmission for certain STDs such as herpes, human papillomavirus (HPV), gonorrhoea and syphilis