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6 WORLD NEWS Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition | 4/2017 HPV vaccination may lower risk of oral infections that cause mouth cancer By DTI CHICAGO, USA: A study conducted in the US has found that the hu- man papillomavirus (HPV) vac- cine may help reduce oral infec- © Komsan Loonprom/Shutterstock.com Senior study author Prof. Maura Gillison, from the Univer- sity of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, said that, despite rates of HPV-caused oral cancers continu- ing to rise every year in the US, par- Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examina- tion Survey, the study looked at self-reported records of 2,627 young adults, aged 18–33, during the period 2011–2014 and com- According to the results, the HPV strains investigated were found in far fewer people who had received vaccine shots, demonstrating an 88 per cent lower risk. At the time of data collection, around 18.3 per tions that cause mouth and throat cancer by as much as 88 per cent. However, the actual impact of the vaccine on oral HPV infections re- mains low, owing to the poor rate of uptake in the country, especially in males. The research is the first large study to explore the possible impact of the vaccine on oral HPV infections. ticularly among men, no clinical trial had evaluated the potential use of the HPV vaccine for the pre- vention of oral HPV infections that could lead to cancer. “Given the ab- sence of gold standard, clinical trial data, we investigated whether HPV vaccine has had an impact on oral HPV infections among young adults in America.” pared those who had received one or more doses of an HPV vac- cine with those who had not. Focusing on the prevalence of HPV 16, 18, 6 and 11—the four types covered by HPV vaccines prior to 2016—oral rinse samples collected by mobile health facili- ties were tested for the virus in Gillison’s lab. cent of young adults in the US re- ported receiving one or more vac- cine doses before age 26, with vacci- nations more common in women than men (29.2 vs. 6.9 per cent). “When we compared the preva- lence in vaccinated men to non-vac- cinated men, we didn’t detect any infections in vaccinated men. The data suggests that the vaccine may be reducing the prevalence of those infections by as much as 100 per cent,” said Gillison. Approved in 2006 to prevent cervical cancers in women, and later for other cancers, including anal cancer in men, negative stigma around the HPV vaccine be- ing used only to prevent sexually transmitted infections and not cancer has meant gaining accept- ance and awareness has been slow. Actor Michael Douglas raised the issue publicly several years ago, when he blamed his cancer on it. Oral sex has been regarded as the main risk factor for contract- ing an HPV infection in the mouth or throat, according to Gillison. She explained, however, that oral sex does not give one cancer. The infection in rare cases can develop into cancer over many years. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 63 per cent of adolescent girls and 50 per cent of adolescent boys have started with the HPV vaccine series throughout the US Nation- wide, there are an estimated 3,200 new cases of HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancers diagnosed in women and about 13,200 diag- nosed in men each year. Global mercury treaty to be put into force Drug-related oral health problems investigated By DTI BRUSSELS, Belgium: The European Union, to- gether with seven of its member states, has ratified the Minamata Convention on Mer- cury and resultantly provided the clinching votes needed to bring it into force. The inter- national agreement aims to protect both humans and the environment from the neg- ative effects of mercury and mercury com- pounds, and its ratification is seen as a cru- cial step in achieving this. The Minamata Convention was signed in October 2013 under the United Nations En- vironment Programme. It was named in honour of the Japanese city of Minamata, where thousands of people were poisoned as a result of dumped wastewater contain- ing methylmercury. Though 128 countries had already signed it, the treaty needed to be ratified by 50 countries to enter into force. With the ratification provided by the EU and seven member states—Bulgaria, Denmark, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Romania and Sweden—the total number of signato- ries reached 51, resulting in its enactment. Owing to its ratification, the Minamata Convention will now become legally binding for all involved parties on 16 August 2017. In addition to this, the first Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention will be held in Geneva in Switzerland from 24 to 29 September 2017. This conference will be in- strumental in deciding how the treaty will be adopted and implemented on a technical, administrative and operational level. “This legally binding agreement is our best hope to curtail the global mercury cri- sis,” said Michael Bender, co-coordinator of the Zero Mercury Working Group, an inter- national coalition formed by the European Environmental Bureau. “Over time, it will provide countries with both the technical and financial resources necessary to reduce worldwide exposure risks to mercury.” The World Health Organization consid- ers mercury to be one of ten chemicals of major public health concern owing to its nu- merous adverse effects. Mercury and its as- sorted compounds have been demonstrated to threaten proper development of children in utero. They have also been associated with reduced cognitive performance, kidney damage and digestive system issues. Though dental amalgam’s effect on the level of mer- cury in the human body is a topic of much debate, there has nevertheless been a shift away from amalgam, which contains roughly 50 per cent mercury, towards alter- native filling materials. By DT Asia Pacific BRISBANE, Australia: People with substance use disorders are more prone to dental caries and periodontal disease than the general population, as well as less likely to receive regular dental care. Hence, the oral health of these patients is a particular challenge for dentists. A new review study has now aimed to examine drug-associated oral health problems and ways for dental professionals to improve these patients’ oral health. Drug use is associated with problems such as xerostomia, an increased urge to snack, clenching and grinding of teeth, and chemical erosion due to applying cocaine to teeth and gingivae, research has shown. In addition, lifestyle-associated factors can worsen the oral health in patients with sub- stance use disorders. These include high- sugar diets, malnutrition, poor oral hygiene and lack of regular professional dental care. In order to lift the burden of oral health-related problems, a cautious dental approach is needed when treating these pa- tients. However, according to lead researcher Dr Hooman Baghaie from the University of Queensland, there are simple measures that both dentists and doctors can take to im- prove these patients’ oral health. “Dentists should screen their patients for substance use, notice any advanced den- tal or periodontal disease inconsistent with a patient’s age and consider referral to med- ical doctors for management,” Baghaie said. In addition, dentists should be aware of is- sues concerning treatment and consent when the patient is intoxicated and be alert to the possibility of resistance to painkillers, he emphasised. “Generally, doctors and clinicians who care for people with substance use disorders should screen for oral disease and warn pa- tients of the oral health risks associated with xerostomia and cravings for sweet foods,” Baghaie added. The review combined the results of 28 studies from around the world, which col- lectively provided data on 4,086 patients with substance use disorders. The findings indi- cated that one in 20 people between the ages of 15 and 64 use drugs each year, with approx- imately 10 per cent of this number having drug dependence or substance use disorders. The findings mirror those of increased dental caries and periodontal disease in peo- ple with severe mental illness, eating disor- ders and alcohol use disorders, compared with the general population.