Hello, new here. I am waiting for the brush biopsy results. hopefully know something next week. Any good ways to cope with this waiting? i have never felt so horrible and nervous about this. had visilite and dye test both positive, now brush biopsy. very worried. site is lower right behind molar back of mouth.

Hi Frank. I know waiting can be awful. Best thing to do is stay busy to keep your mind off it. Hope it turns out to be nothing.

Waiting is the worst part. But I wanted you to know that the Vizilite test, is not really a diagnostic test, and it only help doctors see white lesions, which are not the most dangerous kinds. Also the brush cytology cell collection is not a stand alone test that is definitive, and if it comes back as a a positive, or ambiguous, the doctor is required to send you for a gold standard punch or incisional biopsy to someone like an oral surgeon. Just remember that these things that were done to you are very preliminary, and even a positive finding from them is not a gold standard black and white biopsy result.

The real biopsy is no big deal and nothing to be afraid of. The doc will numb up the area, take a very, very small little piece of it, and send it to a pathologist who will look at the sample under a microscope. THAT pathology finding is the one that you need to be concerned with. So even with what you have been though already, there still will be another step for a definitive answer.

I wish that dentists would just send suspicious things right out for a gold standard biopsy in the first place, instead of putting people though these anxiety creating procedures that do not give you a hard answer to what's going on.

But while you are dealing with this, don't hesitate to come here and vent, and please do not expect the worst outcome. Most things that dentists see in the oral environment turn out to be nothing serious, as we all have little benign abnormalities come and go in our mouths as a routine matter of life.

Praying you get good results!

Hello Frank:
What Brian sent you is very informative and hopefully ease some of your anxiety. We all dread the wait for results from any tests we have, so you're not alone there. I'll pray that everything will be okay and that you won't have to join our group, although we enjoy hearing from you.
julieann

The waiting is really the worst part of any test. As a caregiver to my son I was so anxious and nervious, too. What helps sometimes is to remember that it could very well not be anything serious at all and then involve yourself in other activities like exercise, watch a movie, read a book, talk to friends or whatever can take your mind off the waiting and of course, come here where you will find tremendous support. When my son was first diagnosed by his dentist, the dentist sent him straight to an oral surgeon and as Brian said, it was no big deal, It took very little time. He did the biopsy right in his office and then sent the sample to the pathologist. Hope everything turns out ok for you. Let us know what happens.

Frank, good luck and the best to you and your wishes. Thoughts are hard to be controlled and we all have them.

Thanks for all the kind words. I feel better about the brush cytology results are really meaning less at this point. I am trying not to worry as much and trying to have positive feelings. I have been getting visilite test for a few years with out issue. I used to smoke (18-30's) then started chewing skoal (30's to present 46). I never knew how serious this could become until now. I will never touch that stuff again. I hope it turns out to be nothing, but I know I really need to keep an eye on things for years to come because of my past abuses. I feel better talking about this here and I thank you all for your kind wishes. Best wishes to all.
Frank