Cervical Cancer Screening

When I have discussed my concerns about the HPV vaccine, it has had more to do with the implied message in the marketing campaign.  The idea that the maker of the vaccine presents is that it could prevent cervical cancer (or now, oral cancer).  But the vaccine does not prevent cancer, it can prevent some, if not most, of the strains of the humanpappiloma virus that leads to cancer.
It is the pap smear, the testing of cells from the cervix, that can prevent the cancer.  
It seems that I started to hear conflicted recommendations on how often a woman should have a pap smear in recent years. What has remained consistent it that they are  recommended to begin at age 18 or when a woman becomes sexually active.  When I turned 18, the recommendation was for annual pap smears.  Within the last 5 years or so, some professional organizations began to tweak recommendations so that three and five year tests were acceptable in some situations.  It also was determined that after a certain age or a hysterectomy, the tests might not be necessary.
In the last year or two, another screening measure was tentatively and with some controversy, recommended.
This week the New England Journal of Medicine has a nice "perspective" piece on the varied recommendations.  
I believe it is best that you read it yourself and it is available here for free.  If nothing else, skip down to the table that makes suggestions based on the personal situation of the woman.