Papillomaviruses: their possible role in oral disease

Abstract

Papillomaviruses are ubiquitous DNA viruses that are epitheliotropic and produce a range of epithelial neoplasms, both benign and malignant, in animals and man. Human papillomaviruses are associated with a variety of rare and uncommon oral lesions, and there has been increasing suspicion that they may be implicated also in some premalignant and malignant oral lesions.