Yes, it is safe to have oral sex with somebody with cavities. Having oral sex while you have cavities are not much of a threat to the transmission of STDs, but you need to be cautious of another dental concern.
What are the health implications that you need to know? Check out this article, and make sure that your next intimate time with your partner is completely safe.
What You Need To Know About Having Oral Sex When You Have Cavities
It would be best to meet your partner feeling all fresh and clean. Sometimes, oral sex is part of that intimate time you have with your partner.
However, would there be implications if your dental health is not at its best? Dental caries develop as bacteria degrade the tooth structure, leading to different degrees of damage and cavitation.
Worrying about transmitting diseases while having an intimate time with your partner is a valid concern. Before discussing oral sex while your teeth are cavitated, let us understand the transmission of different sexually transmitted infections.
These infections are made by viruses lodged into an infected person’s blood, semen, and breast milk. When a highly-contaminated secretion enters another person’s bloodstream, they can get infected.
Given this, would there be a risk of transmission when doing oral sex while you have cavities?
Normally, dental caries does not provide direct access to your bloodstream. Hence, the risk for transmission may be low during oral sex.
Unfortunately, gum diseases are a completely different matter. Your gums tend to bleed quicker when you have gum disease, leading to an open passage toward your bloodstream. It would not be a good idea to engage in oral sex with an infected partner if this is the scenario.
Sexually Transmitted Infections and Oral Sex
Sexually transmitted infections, or STIs, are not new to the medical world. We now have a lot of means to detect these infections, prevent their spread, and improve the quality of life of people who have them.
Aside from sexual intercourse, oral sex is another risky way to get infected. In oral sex, stimulation is made with another person’s mouth. Since this is still a sexual practice, everyone must be prudent in making sure that it is done safely to avoid any problems with STIs.
STIs such as HIV, chlamydia, syphilis, and gonorrhea may be passed to someone giving oral sex to their partners. Be alert when you develop mouth sores after giving orals and consult medical professionals if you suspect any form of infection.
One can either receive or give oral sex from their partner. And the risks of being infected by STIs are vastly different in these two scenarios.
In receiving oral sex from your partner, you would be exposed to their saliva. And, most STIs are seen in low concentrations in saliva. So, chances are very low in terms of getting infected here. This holds for HIV and blood-transmitted infections.
However, other STDs like herpes are easily transmissible during oral sex as this kind of virus easily infects upon physical contact.
But what if there is visible blood seen on your partner’s mouth? Strictly speaking, the chances of being infected by a partner performing oral sex with ongoing bleeding in their mouth is quite low, but not impossible. In this case, there is a risk of transmitting STIs.
How about the other side of the coin? If you are the one giving oral sex to your partner, your mouth is more exposed to all sorts of fluids including secretions or cum. These secretions are areas where the virus is highly concentrated. The more exposure to this, the higher the risk of infection.
Toothbrushing Before Oral Sex: Is It Good or Bad?
Before meeting your partner, you need to make sure that you feel and smell clean. However, experts are strongly against brushing and flossing immediately before oral sex! But why?
What experts do not want is for you to develop cuts or wounds on your gums. These open direct access to your bloodstream. And if you will give oral sex, this spells trouble as the virus can directly infect you.
Brushing can lead to small cuts on your gums, especially if you have gingivitis. Similarly, forcefully flossing between teeth can push down your gum tissue and cause unwanted trauma.
The best way to keep clean and avoid risks of infection is to use an anti-bacterial mouthwash. You can get the same minty feel, and the anti-bacterial wash can also flush out germs and bacteria that you might have when with your partner.
Preventing Oral Transmission of STIs
The best way to prevent oral transmission of STIs is to go through regular STI screening, contact tracing of partners, and promotive barrier contraception like condoms or dental dams.
These three things are the recipe for the oral transmission of STIs:
- Exposure to semen, blood, and secretions.
- Having an open cut where the virus can immediately go to the bloodstream.
- Direct transmission from one body to another. Remember that the virus would not survive when exposed outside the body for a long time.
So, here are some tips to keep yourself and your partner safe at oral sex:
- Avoid allowing your partner to ejaculate into your mouth. The less exposure to these secretions, the lesser chances of being infected by STIs.
- You can also opt for a physical barrier like a condom. This way, secretions are contained and you would not be physically exposed to them.
- Make sure that you or your partner do not have active bleeding or sores before oral sex.
- Seek medical attention when you experience mouth sores or ulcers after oral sex. It would be much better to identify the infection early so that intervention can be carried out quicker.
Conclusion
We cannot deny that intimacy is a part of our needs. It all boils down to keeping ourselves informed and educated to avoid any health problems.
Oral sex involves the use of the mouth to stimulate your partner, and if you are not careful, you can pass on or be infected by various STIs!
This article had all you need to know about oral sex and oral hygiene. Even though cavities, in itself, do not increase your risk of being infected, you need to watch out for other problems like gum disease or mouth sores.
And, always seek medical consultation for a healthy and safe relationship with your partner.
Sources
Rathee M, Sapra A. Dental Caries. [Updated 2023 Mar 6]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2023 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK551699/
Tuddenham S, Hamill MM, Ghanem KG. Diagnosis and Treatment of Sexually Transmitted Infections: A Review. JAMA. 2022 Jan 11;327(2):161-172. doi: 10.1001/jama.2021.23487. PMID: 35015033.
