Marlene, may I suggest that you transfer your post to a fresh posting with a title of your own? This is going to get lost here, and you may not get as many responses as you might under your own posting.

Good advise to get looked at by a Comprehensive Cancer Center before you potentially get violated without reason. Not saying they wouldn't advise the same thing but I would feel more comfortable knowing what they said after evaluating the same facts.

Marlene, I can understand why you are confused. This does sound to me like something that should be removed no matter what BUT it would be a good idea to get a seocnd opinion and at a CCC, as others have advised, it is good advice for anyone with a cancer diagnosis anyway.

Nelie

Hi all,
I have to say from my point of view I share the frustration some have expressed about differences of opinion about Dentists (my colleagues). Jerry hits the nail right on the head when he stated,"Only the biopsy will tell."
Gary has been down a rough road with regard to dental care and knows what the standard of care is. He gives first hand experience and accurate information.
Brian has raised the bar and put the onus on Dental Professionals in his tireless efforts for professional and public awareness of OCC. I need only mention his post about working with professionals to issue a "Standard of Care." I, for one, support his effort in this project.
Unfortunatly, OC is misdiagnosed, undetected and ignored on a daily basis.
The VELscope, Vizilite, and brush biopsies are all tools that can aid in early detection and diagnosis of OC but, are secondary tools to the dentist taking a proper dental and medical history, asking about family history and conducting a thorough visual and palpation examination under good lighting with the aid of magnification. We were all taught how to do this. Often times Dentists overlook some of the examination. They do the extra-oral and visual examination of the easily accesible areas. To do a complete oral examination the tongue has to be held with a gauze and/or retractor and the base of the tongue, tonsillar pillars, and floor of the mouth all visually and digitally examined. The whole process doesn't take long. Photos can be taken to compare with the areas at a later date.
I tell my patients that if they develop a sore spot, a lump or bump, a red spot or a white spot, a painful area or anything that they feel is not normal to come and see me. I also tell them that any abnormal areas that appear and that don't disappear within 10-14 days should be investigated and not ignored.
I hope this is useful to some.

Cheers,
Mike

Marlene,

You certainly have a right to be confused having received so many different interpretations and opinions of the results of your 2 biopsies.

You don't mention where you are being seen. Is it a Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCC)? I am not an oncologist, but it seems to me that you really need to get some better answers before having a mandibulectomy done. "You don't have cancer, but you might" doesn't seem to me to be a definitive statement.

As far as the word "buccal" is concerned, it does mean cheek, but in dentistry it is used to designate the part of the anatomy that faces to cheek, so that the terms Buccal surface of a tooth or buccal mucosa are used to indicate the part of the tooth or gums facing toward the cheek. Perhaps this is why the term buccal scc was used. Is the area on the gums where your lesion is, on the cheek side?

I hope that there is a way for you to get to a CCC and get some answers from a team of docs that work together to come up with a nonconfusing diagnosis and treatment plan.

Jerry