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Back in 2018, the BMJ, one of the oldest peer-reviewed medical journals, published a case study that had us in such a chokehold that it’s still being talked about on social media nearly a decade later. Your dentist can totally tell if you’ve recently sucked a dick, and for many sexually active adults, that really shifts the vibe when they bill you after asking you to spit. Known in the dental community as “palatal petechiae,” the condition occurs when the muscular part of the roof of your mouth, or the soft palate, gets red and bruised from the suction and impact of an erect penis during a recent and likely enthusiastic blowjob.
“Palatal petechiae are small red or purple dots, due to broken capillaries, that appear on the top of the mouth,” explains Toronto-based dentist Dr. Steve Mascarin. “They can be caused by vigorous oral sex, but are not exclusive to sexual activities.”
The fact that dental professionals can deduce this intimate detail might make a coquettish cocksucker shy about keeping a dentist appointment, whereas a bolder blower might ask: How can my dentist help me give better head? It is not a question dental professionals are trained to answer, but given that harsh odors like bad breath can kill sexual arousal, and jaw pain can affect technique, it is a constructive query to pose. Or you can take a more direct approach like New York City-based comedian Caitlin Reese. “I tipped my dental hygienist for making my mouth ready for new guests,” she joked on Threads, after paying out-of-pocket for a six-month cleaning and justifying the cost to herself. In her forties, Reese no longer fusses over shaving every inch of herself for a date, but she’s not one to skimp on her oral health. “Everyone cares and notices what your mouth is like.”
Dental experts like Mascarin also confirm that in addition to the risk of passing sexually transmitted infections through oral sex, “there are also risk concerns for partners with poor oral hygiene.” To put it in perspective, humans have up to 700 species of bacteria in the mouth alone, and hundreds of species in the vagina and foreskin (fewer are identified on circumcised penises). These get passed back and forth during sex, and “with advanced gum disease, there are even more harmful bacteria,” Mascarin warns.
There is an unfortunate amount of data regarding the dental downsides of going down. One study found that women who gave oral sex were more prone to periodontitis or gum disease. Another larger study over 3,000 women showed similar results, with a greater risk of periodontitis among those with uncircumcised partners. The same team of researchers found that gum disease was linked to bacterial vaginosis (BV), a condition that affects about 30% of women and is characterized by an overgrowth of anaerobic bacteria, which, interestingly, are the same kind of bacteria that cause halitosis, or clinically bad breath. On top of that, a more recent study suggests that guys with gum disease can pass on bacteria that also cause BV. Approximately half of women with bacterial vaginosis do not experience symptoms, but the overgrowth of bacteria can make those afflicted more vulnerable to STIs, as well as complications during pregnancy such as preterm birth. Simply put, it isn’t rude to decline sexual favors from someone with dragon breath. It’s just a way to have safer sex.
Barrier methods of contraception like dental dams can be a way to reduce risk, but even if you cut out oral sex altogether, the link between dental health and sexual health remains inescapable. Multiple studies demonstrate a correlation between gum disease and erectile dysfunction, and emerging evidence suggests that women with gum disease are more likely to struggle with sexual dysfunction as well. Ultimately, adequate oral hygiene is not just crucial for giving good head; it seems essential for enjoying it.
While this all may seem like propaganda for six-month cleanings, most dentists are not prepared to educate patients on their sexual health, mostly because “the medical field hasn’t really overcome its discomfort with sex yet,” sexologist Carol Queen notes. “Just because something like this is discussed in one corner of a relevant field, it doesn’t necessarily follow that everyone in that field gets the information.”
In the end, most of us should be so lucky to find a dentist who can tell if we gave a blowjob. That means they know the kind of company they’re cleaning up after.