Wouldn’t it be nice if we could blame all oral cancers on smoking ciggies and boozing it up? At least we already know we’re better off ditching those vices. But are we supposed to have NO fun? I mean, seriously.

For the most part, oral sex is pretty dang safe. You can’t get knocked up. It’s much harder to contract most sexually transmitted diseases. And it feels oh-oh-oh so good. But it seems all good things come at a price.

NPR & CBS News just reported new data showing that 64% of all cancers of the oral cavity, head, and neck are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), which is usually spread to the mouth and surrounding areas via oral sex. Turns out that anyone with six or more lifetime oral sex partners has an eight-fold higher risk of these kinds of cancers than someone who has never had oral sex before.