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We used the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) and culture methods to study the presence of Helicobacter pyloriin the gastric and oral samples from a total of 116 gastritis and peptic ulcer patients, including 58 with oral cancer. Detection rates of H. pyloriwere 46.6% in stomach samples and 12.1 % in oral swab samples. All of the oral cancer surface swab samples were positive for H. pylori, as were their gastric samples suggesting that oral H. pyloriderived from the stomach. The culture supernatants of Streptococcus mutansand Prevotella intermediainhibited the growth of the H. pyloristrain and caused the formation of the coccal form. In cases where H. pyloriwas detected in the oral cavity samples, including the oral cancer surface samples, it was believed that this species had colonized the stomach and were present in the oral cavity only as a transient organism.