Hello-
I am new here, first post.
My husband has an oblong lump inside his lower lip, it has been there for a little over a month now. he just told me about it last week. He is a smoker, and the lump is actually under where he puts his cigarette in his mouth.

My question is this:
should he goes to our family doc only to be sent to someone else, or should we bypass that and go directly to a dentist or another kind of doctor? I see "ear, nose and throat" on this site a lot, but he only has the one lump in his mouth. I want to minimize the amount of time waiting while being shuffled around between doctors. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Just this year, I lost my father to lung cancer after only 6 months. I was his primary caregiver, and as most of you probably know, it is a hard thing to do. There are 2 other people in my exended family who have been diagnosed this year with non-hodgkins lymphoma and breast cancer. I know, wah, wah, poor me. My point is, I just want to know what this is in my husband's mouth ASAP so it can be treated ASAP.
thanks,
allihay

Hello Ali and welcome to OCF! There are many caring folks here who are capable of giving you technical advice; unfortunately, I am not one of them.

I do, however, encourage you to get your hubby to SOMEONE asap..you've got to start somewhere. If your insurance doesn't dictate a specific protocol, or even if you're paying out-of-pocket, I'd take the first appt. I could get, whether it is with a dentist, oral surgeon, ENT or your primary care physician.

In my husband's case, his dentist was 99% sure of SCC just by looking at the spot, and immediately referred him to an Oral Specialist.

The 'lump' is hopefully nothing to worry about. DO keep us posted as to your decision, and good luck!

Lois & Buzz in NC

I would go for the dentist probably.

I would suggest an oral surgeon or an oral and maxillofacial surgeon(like mine.) The dentist might or might not be trained to recognize and biopsy suspicious areas like this one. If you found a good one, then that would be great. If I had to choose one doctor to go to first, I would choose the oral and maxillofacial surgeon, who has both a dental and a medical degree.

Thank you all....
I called around all morning and found an ENT who is also a surgeon who could do the biopsy right away if he needs to. My husband has an appointment for Monday morning. Much better than the family doc a week from Thursday only to be referred to a specialist! I couldn't find an oral surgeon who had any openings in the near future. It's the end of the year, and everyone wants to use up their insurance....
Thank you again for the advice, and I wish the best for all of you who are fighting this.
Allison

After reading around this site a lot, what my husband seems to have is a mucoceles (sp?). We'll find out on Monday. I just want to say that this site is FULL of wonderful people. Also, oral cancers do not get nearly enough attention. I really didn't know much about them at all. It seems like, as with lung cancers, there is a stigma attached to them that needs to be removed. More and more people who have not used tobacco products are beginning to get these cancers. It is very unfortunate, but perhaps this will bring more research dollars to finding better treatments, and better methods for EARLY DETECTION. Best wishes to you all. I'll check back in to let you know what the ENT says.
Allison

Allison: Great news! Monday will be here before you know it!

Please keep us posted as to your husband's progress. We're all rooting for him!


Lois & Buzz in NC

Allison,

I am happy to see that you got an appointment for Monday. If I had seen your post sooner, I would have made the same recommendations of an oral surgeon or an ENT. You seem to have hit upon the right doctor as there are some ENT's and many general dentists that don't do biopsies.

By the way, mucoceles are cysts related to the salivary glands, which do occur in the lips. They are fluid filled and usually have a bluish color due to the fluid showing through the skin.

I hope that your husband is motivated to stop smoking as the scare of having oral cancer can help him move in the right direction. If you would like to get some websites and phone numbers for smoke cessation help, send me an email by clicking on the second icon to the right of the date above. I have helped many of my patients quit.

Good luck on Monday and I hope to hear good news from you.

Jerry