hello everyone I am a 27 year pack a day smoker of 14 years.. my cousin passed away from oral cancer at 35 he was also a heavy smoker...I have had these suspicious bumps in my mouth for about 3 years now there are about 3-4 on the right side located on the top of the mandibular bone then on the left side there is a single lesion located under the mandibular bone I have been to 3 dentists and 2 doctors who briefly examined it and all concluded it to be mandibular tori. However I am not so convinced here are my symptoms these bumps get bigger and smaller through out the day (i do scrape my tongue across it a lot) i notice if i eat smoke or drink anything it gets hard and bigger then smaller and softer if there is no oral activity the last dentist who examined it did a complete x ray looked at it under the light touched it and used a blue ray light and said he was not concerned... my question is for all you that have been diagnosed already is this how it starts? also any advice on if i should follow up or just accept there diagnosis or mandibular tori? thanks

Hi Knine. While it is not possible to diagnos you over hte internet, I will try to help you. From my experience, my cancerous tumors did not flucuate through out the day depending on what I ate or drank. The tumor was always there.

Sounds like you had a dentist who did a full oral cancer exam on you. Yea for that thorough dentist!!!!!

Oral cancer is a fast moving cancer where it would not still be the same for several years like what you described. If after all the opinions you have gotten, you still feel uncomfortable see an oral surgeon or an ENT who specializes in oral cancer. They can do a biopsy and then you would know for certain if you had reason to be concerned.

Im sorry for the loss of your cousin at such a young age. Are you still smoking? This scare you are going thru should be a wake up call to quit.

Best of luck with everything.

Hello Christine! thank you sooo much for your reply! I appreciate your advice yea the 3-4 bumps on the right side are just hard all the time no change in size and the sit rite on top of my mandibular bone the other single lesion is on the left the side i smoke on {yes i still smoke) wish I could quit! but the single bump on the left is the one that concerns me because it is sometimes small and soft and when i smoke eat drink it gets bigger and hard and it doesnt sit rite on my mandibular bone like the other side its like rite in between the bone and the floor of my mouth i dont think you can even see it or feel it with your finger but it is always there im not sure if i put that in my first post or not but it is always there has been for 3 years sorry for being so detailed and for asking more questions.... im sure your busy dealing with your own life and i appreciate all your guys help i wish you all the best of luck in overcoming this stay strong stay positive and fight! thanks again!

hey everyone not to sound so frantic but i have recently been reading up on other symptoms and it says jaw pain and ear pain? my jaw sometimes feel a little sore but doesnt hurt and my ears feel pressure but no pain....is this similar or different? also does oc change in size or just stay the same size all the time?

Its ok to ask questions, so please dont feel the need to apologize. You are scared which is normal. Please try your best to stay calm about the situation. Its NOT cancer til the biopsy says it is.

Everybody is different and can have different symptoms. Tumor location also plays a part in feeling jaw or ear pain. My tumor was located inside my L cheek and I had another seperate tumor behind my top L molar. I had no ear pain or pressure at all.

A cancerous tumor will not grow and shrink like what you are describing. It sounds like smoking, eating and drinking irritate the area and it in turn reacts.

Anyone can quit smoking, its not easy but its something that can be accomplished. Its all mind over matter. I am a former smoker. I simply threw my cigs out the car window on my way to one of my oncologist appointments, never to smoke again. There are several products out there to assist you in quitting. Its all in your mind, IF you want to quit you will. Hope that you seriously consider quitting after this scare has opened your eyes.

hello thanks again for the reply i am so glad i found this site! so then the last exam my dentist did with the x rays and blue light was a oc screening then?

Here is a link to go into depth about what a complete oral cancer screening should entail. The blue light is called a Vizilite which is another tool dentists should always use for a thorough exam.

http://oralcancerfoundation.org/dental/screening.htm

Too often members forget about the main OCF pages where there is so much helpful info. There is a search function there as well which makes it easy to find the info you are looking for.

Actually the Vizilite is not a very good tool, OCF is not a backer of the device (it -Zila-actually went bankrupt a year ago, and the remnants of the company are trying to be reconstructed by a new company Tolmar) and works on more marketing rhetoric than science. The blue light that works well is made by VELscope and also the Sapphire unit by DenMat. There is a third vendor out there, but it is grossly underpowered and not very bright. These two are based on tissue auto-flouresence, a science that the NIH has thrown about 61 million dollars at in the last 10 years. These are all adjunctive devices and only add a small amount more to a screening than a conventional visual and tactile screening. As to Vizilight specifically, it is nothing more than Heinz 2% white vinegar (acidic acid) with a little raspberry flavoring, and a toy light from Omniglo, the same company that makes chemiluminesent lights for kids rave parties, camping use and our military. There is nothing special about their light. That a white light would not do.

By the by, all these things put out a blue light, but the VELscope light for instance it is very specific wave length that will excite the florophors in your cells and cause them to fluoresce in normal cells. In damaged cells - cancer, even pizza burns and cheek bits, the cells lose their ability to fluoresce and that is an indication the doc needs to look closer. These devices are all DISCOVERY DEVICES not DIAGNOSTIC DEVICES, and their 510k FDA approval states this very clearly.

Christine put up a good link for doctors, here is a more basic idea that a lay person could use to determine if they had a good screening or not. http://oralcancerfoundation.org/dental/how_do_you_know.html

Sorry, I couldnt remember the name of the other devices that dentists use. Thanks for giving more technical info Brian, I wish I knew 1/4 of what you have forgotten about OC.

I also forgot to add, only a biopsy is the sure way to tell if your tumor is cancerous. Thats why we have a saying around here...."Its NOT cancer til they say it is."

Try to go about your normal routines and not worry so much. Cancer is like a theif, it steals our precious time from us. It will take a while before the results come in after a biopsy so try to relax.

Here is an independent published review of the Vizilite system.

http://oralcancernews.org/wp/effica...in-the-identification-of-oral-lesions-2/

As to knowing a lot about all this, you try being obsessive/compulsive (my wife's terms) about something for more than a decade, 7 days a week, while having the privilege to speak at symposiums every month with the best and the brightest in the field, who you get to absorb from, and you'll know a lot too. You'll get used to thinking you are passionate, your mate thinking you are compulsive, and the shrink that has been following you since your survival, calling your behavior pathological.