Dental Professionals can help increase HPV vaccinations
An interesting article titled “Could oral health care professionals help increase human papillomavirus vaccination rates by engaging patients in discussions?” appears in the Journal of the American Dental Association on December 8, 2022, written by Sharon Casey an et. al. The article discusses how oral healthcare such as dentists may be able to help prevent human papillomavirus (HPV)-related oropharyngeal and other HPV-related cancers by increasing HPV vaccination rates. The researchers searched four databases (MEDLINE [PubMed], EMBASE, APA PsycInfo, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature) and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance system 2018 data. They looke for the prevalence of HPV vaccination and dental visits for patients between 18 and 49 years old. The researchers were left with 24 studies that they included in the review. From these studies the authors found that knowledge regarding HPV prevalence, transmission, disease processes, … Read more