My husband's dentist noticed a small leukoplakia. It was biopsied within a week by an oral surgeon and found to have moderate dysplasia. He saw an ENT last week, the day after he got the biopsy results, and the ENT said he would remove it in four to six weeks.

Is such a delay common? Should he seek another opinion in the hope of getting it taken care of sooner? I've gone into more detail in the Symptoms and Diagnosis forum.

Oh, an introduction -- I'm 56, husband is 57, two children in college.

I know most of you are dealing with situations far more complex that ours and am grateful for any advice/suggestions you can offer. Brian and the other moderators, thank you for providing this resource.

This is not a rush situation. Leukoplakia is a PRE cancerous condition that does not always move completly into malignancy. Dysplasia are those cells which are no longer normal, but they are not really maligant yet...an inbetwen state so to speak. Dysplasias also do not always go completly over to the dark side, but they are a step in that direction... and having them removed, or watched very regularly is prudent. Dysplastic leukoplakias can often return after surgical removal, many times done with a laser, sometimes via a blade excision. Keep an eye on things even after the removal from now until forever.

Hi Lesley,
You and your husband should consider yourselves very fortunate to have an observant, proactive dentist. There are too many stories on this site of dentists, doctors, etc. who have missed the early stages of this disease.

I'm curious though, if the dysplasia was small, why wasn't it all removed as part of the biopsy? Best, Sheldon

Brian, thanks for the comforting words. Yes, we'll keep an eye out from now until forever.

You mentioned two ways to excise a leukoplakia -- laser and blade. Is there a proven advantage to one method over the other, or is it dependent on the leukoplakia's location, the surgeon's preference or other factors?

Sheldon, I gather that he was referred to an ENT for complete removal because of the location. I happened to see my dentist yesterday (a different one from my husband's but equally observant -- and she refers patients to the same oral surgeon my husband saw), and she said that while the oral surgeon will frequently remove the leukoplakia, if it's in a tricky place he'll do the biopsy and then send a patient to an ENT.