Dentalcompare
Clinical Director
For the second time in a month, I referred a friend last week to an oral surgeon for a biopsy of a suspicious area found during a checkup. There was a hard bump near the vibrating line of the soft palate that was about 5-6 mm in diameter. He had noticed it before, but it was not painful or ulcerated.
The results came back yesterday: Pleomorphic Adenoma, a salivary gland tumor most often encapsulated and benign. Even so, it was good to figure this out now before the tumor grew much bigger requiring a larger area of resection. He is going to be a bit sore after the procedure, but will be just fine in the long run.
As a dentist, this reinforces why we do oral cancer screening exams on our patients. I am thankful it was discovered, and nervous at what would have happened if we had missed it. Too often it has been dismissed as being either a taboo topic or something that wasn’t worth the time. We can’t afford not to do it. The Oral Cancer Foundation reports that there still is not a reduction in the long term survival or oral cancer. Early detection by frequent exams is still the best chance we have to knock those numbers down.
For patients: Get in there, get your teeth cleaned, and have someone with experience look around your mouth.
For docs out there: There is no ROI on a “procedure” like this. It just has to be done. In case you are a little rusty on what you should be doing, the Oral Cancer Foundation has a great resource here for you to review.