Hey everyone. This is driving me nuts. Please help advise me on what you all think this looks like and how bad it might be. Below is a picture link of my mouth. The top right arrow points to a pimple like spot that i've had for quite a while. The lower right arrow is pointing to a darker area that has been concerning me for a while. I have an appointment at my dentist a week from today but I can't wait that long and need some reassurance. Any help, please?

Thanks

Link:

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/7540/mouthkh9.jpg

Justin, None of us hee are qualified to diagnose what you have from pictures. Only a few people reading here have any kind of medical training and even they would probably be hesitant to give an opinion to someone they haven't seen in person. We are just a bunch of people who've been through oral cancer supporting each other.

Try to not assume the worst until you see the dentist. We all know the anxiety that comes from waiting, but the fact is oral cancer overall is uncommon and there are probably other things it could be.

Nelie

Thanks Nelie. I understand. I was just hoping someone here could relate to the photo and say, "oh i have that too... mine was nothing." or something to that effect. Thanks

Justin,
I understand your concern over things that you may discover in your mouth that don't appear normal. Going to your dentist for an evaluation of the areas is the proper first step.
I would not ever tell anyone on this site or in any arena, for that matter, not to worry about something that I saw in a picture (great picture though).
I would need to examine, palpate, x-ray the area and get a proper history. I have a few questions for you.
When and how did you discover these areas?
Are either of the spots sore?
Are they getting bigger?
Are you otherwise healthy?
Do you see your dentist on a regular basis?
Do you smoke or use tobacco and do you consume alcohol?
Have you or anyone in your family ever had cancer and/or oral cancer?
If anxiety and the fear of the worst is what makes you feel you can't wait a week to see your dentist I would suggest relaxing a little bit. I know that may be difficult to do but for your own mental health and stress level you have to.
Share your feelings and anxiety with your dentist when you see him/her. The areas you are indicating in your photo could be a multitude of things. I will not list them due to the length of the list. There is one thing people have to bear in mind; the roof of the mouth, hard and soft palates have many small minor salivary glands that can become inflammed, swollen, sore, and get blocked for various reasons and that no one is bilaterally symmetrical. You don't always see the exact same things on the right and left sides. I'm not suggesting that your concerns are trivial by any means. I have always said that if you are concerned you must get the areas evaluated. Just don't assume the worst.
Let us know how you make out.
E-mail or PM me anytime.

Cheers,

Mike

-I have known about these areas for months now. I was looking at a molar in the mirror and noticed this. But then I assumed it was normal and all until I started reserach after I found out my girlfriend has HPV and I had performed oral sex on her numerous times.
-No spots are sore
-There has been no increase in size in the last three months.
-I am pretty healthy I'd say with the exception of seasonal allergies I'm going through right now.
-I just moved in May from Florida to Nebraska and haven't had a dentist visit since I was in Florida and that visit was in Dec 2006.
-Never smoked anything or used any tobacco in my 20 years of living. I've probably consumed a total of 10 shots of alcohol in my life .
-No history of oral cancer in my family at all.

Dr. Mike, have you seen a hard palate like mine before with good prognosis?

-Justin

Justin,

Call me Mike, Justin, I am a person just like yourself.
Research, can often times, especially if conducted on the internet, mislead and provide horrendously inaccurate and inappropriate information. This scares the socks off a lot of people. There is a large amount of accurate good info on the internet but you have to be carefully selective in what you determine is accurate. I have to emphasize that if you are worried or concerned that you need to have the areas examined by a qualified individual. I cannot diagnose anything without all the information.
My thought's (just thoughts not a clinical opinion or diagnosis) on your picture, symptoms and history, without having had the ability to examine you or take x-rays, would be; many conditions resemble your picture and most are minor however, I cannot offer a professional opinion without all the information. I am lacking x-rays and a head and neck exam in your case. I do feel strongly that you should have someone examine and take appropriate x-rays of the area. Keep your dentist appointment and let me know after if all is well.
Try not to let worry and anxiety and fear of the worst monopolize your thoughts.
My pathology professor in Dental School always made this statement,"... when you look in a horse barn look for the horses first, don't look for Zebra's because they are easy to see and then you'll miss the horses."

I'm here for you.

Cheers,
Mike

Thanks Mike. My appointment is now set for next Tuesday at 3pm central time. The actual appointment was set up for the purpose of an exam, x-rays, and cleaning. I think I have a cavity in one of my molars too so that'll be a follow up appointment no doubt. I really hope my dentist gives me an ok on this. It's really consuming my thoughts, even thought I'm trying to not let it. I just wanna hear a professional say, "It's nothing to worry about."

Thanks again Mike

-Justin

According to published articles, HPV caused cancers in the hard palate are virtually unknown. They are typically BOT or tonsillar pillar.

It would be unethical (and possibly even illegal)for anyone here to attempt a Dx based on your photo.

You should seek out a comprehensive cancer center (CCC) and put the matter rest once and for all.

And please leave your sex life off of the forum. This should be a private issue between you and your health care provider.

I'm sorry but I thought the information might be important to the questions Mike asked.

Gary, what do you mean by:

You should seek out a comprehensive cancer

Gary has got this right. The locations that HPV related tumors are clearly detailed in the data on our HPV connection off the main site

Brian, fair enough. Thank you for your time. I'm sorry if I offended anyone on here by making my condition (or lack of hopefully) seem horrible when I know most on here have seen and gone through much worse which I cannot even comapre to. I contribute this to my being a hypochondriac. Forgive me. Thank you though.

-Justin

You have offended no one, you have nothing to apologize for, and you can count on this group if you need them should you find this is something bad. They are an amazingly compassionate lot.

Justin....I will answer here, if only to perhaps help you get through the weekend. Of course, nobody can diagnose from a picture, and you know that. There are not many people on this wonderful forum who have had SCC on the palate, and I am one of them.

I realize that cancer can take all forms, and that there are other conditions in the mouth....even other cancers...that are not SCC and will present differently.

The palate is a bone, covered in a thin tissue layer, and that layer is composed of the same cells that cover many of our body cavities...squamous cells.

The bone underneath could certainly have been injured or insulted and produced some over-growth in reaction. The dark spot to me appears to be probably something vascular under the skin. Of course, I am not diagnosing.....I would not even comment if i didn' tknow that you already have an appointment, and if I didn't know that nothing I say will keep you from going.

I wanted to describe the appearance of my palatal cancer, and it looked nothing at all like your area of concern. Mine began at the gingival surface of my right maxilla, on the cheek side. I did not look early, but my dentist did and was not suspicious of the red, tender area. 6 months later, I complained of tenderness again, and he cauterized the area. I did not look then either.

Two months later, I felt an area on my palate, which, of course, is on the inside of the mouth....the lingual side of the maxilla. I did look then, and what I saw was frightening. It did not look horrible.....It was red, and a little raised, but still flat, with some small white and/or yellow spots. It had spread along the toothline on the cheek side, and had crossed onto the lingual side and spread in the other direction, and onto the hard palate, where it formed a roundish, flat-but-slightly-raised, reddened slightly spotted area. It did not look the same every day, but it never got better.

Your area of concern is, obviously, nothing like this. Squamous Cell Carcinoma is a cancer of the cells that line our cavities and organs....Your area of concern seems to come from below the skin of the palate.

That does not mean that it is not important...ANYthing that is not normal needs to be checked. And it does not mean that it isn't something other than SCC that might be equally important....and it doesn't mean that I know anything at all and that it could still be SCC.

But you asked about our experiences, and your spot doesn't look at like my spot.

Of course, you are going to go to the dentist on Tuesday. My advice: Ask him to have you return in a few weeks so that he can analyze whether or not it has changed. And make a plan with him for what you two will do if it has not improved. You have not noticed it before, and you don't want to forget about it again (fat chance, eh??)

But if I had had a return visit the first time I complained of my gum tenderness, I would have saved myself 8 months of allowing this SCC to grow in my mouth, and it might not have spread to my palate at all.

Keep us posted. Get into "neutral" over the weekend. Stay busy, and don't obsess about it. Three more days is not going to make a difference in the outcome.

Thank you Colleen. After Gary's, Brian's and now your reponse, I have relaxed my concerns a to a managable level. A night of rest helped me too. What I keep reminding myself is that it's looked like this for at least the last three months for sure and it hasn't changed. And from the feeling of my tongue, it hasn't changed feeling in years. Nor have I experienced any other symptom of Oral cancer, Thank God. I'm hoping for a good diagnosis on Tuesday. Hopefully the worse the dentist will tell me is I have a cavity, which I think I do. Thanks again everyone

-Justin

As a quick follow up:

I went to my appointment today and met with the dentist. After an exam and x-rays, etc, etc, the dentist told me I have nothing to worry about. He said he didn't see anything in my mouth that was a cause for concern. He did say one of my tonsils is slightly inflammed but that is most likely due to my allergies I've had for two months now which cause me to have congestion and post nasal drip. Thanks for everyone's support and response on here. Good luck to everyone!

-Justin