A few days ago, I noticed that the back part of the roof of my mouth was tender. When I felt the area with my tongue I could feel a couple of small hard lumps and the area was tender and sore. I'm nervous about going to a doctor. Has anyone experienced something like this?

There are many simple things this could be, but obviously the only way to know for sure is to be seen by a professional, like your dentist.

One of the rules of thumb for problems in the mouth is this; most common problems resolve on their own within two weeks. If it has only been a few days, it isn't time to worry yet. If things continue, then in spite of your nervousness about seeing your doctor, please go. In all disease, and particularly with dangerous conditions such as cancers, those individuals who get the earliest diagnosis while the condition is small, have the best outcomes from treatment. Delaying any treatment only makes things worse. So if you've had something for two weeks and it isn't going away, or you are in any discomfort....please go see someone who can determine exactly what the problem is.

I posted a message about growths and swelling on the roof of my mouth yesterday, well, here is the latest. I have tried to do more research on the subject, but it starts to get really confusing. Today, the hard centerpart of the roof of my mouth is swollen even more and the swelling is hard - red with some white spots on it and some lumps on the the left side. It's about the size of a very large almond. It is still very tender even when I touch it with the tip of my tongue. It is a little difficult to eat because the roof of my mouth is so sore. I have a dentist appointment tomorrow morning to see what he has to say. Could this be a blocked gland? I am really afraid it might be cancer. What do you think the dentist will advise me to do? I want to be prepared for the worst. If he refers me to a specialist and I need to have a biopsy done on the roof of my mouth - what's that like? How long will it take to get the results back? What else could it be, and what can be done? I want to know all the possiblities to be prepared.

Slow down.......take things one step at a time. No one on the web is going to be able to diagnose what you have from your description. You are doing the best thing already, which is going to see your dentist right away. There is no reason to leap all the way to cancer, when there are so many other things this can be. You may have an abscess on one of your upper posterior teeth that is causing the swelling and discomfort for instance. It could be a benign cyst. There are lots of choices that are more likely than cancer. Your dentist will be able to determine if it is either of these from an x-ray while you are in his office. It is unlikely that an oral cancer would develop this quickly from a few sore spots in the posterior of your palate into a large swelling in a day.

As to what a biopsy is like, it can range from something as simple as the dentist rubbing a small brush on the suspect area to pick up cells for examination, to him cutting a little piece of tissue from the area. Neither one of these procedures is anything to be concerned about. IF a biopsy is done, it will only take a few days for the results to be returned to the dentist from the pathology laboratory.

Thanks for the advice and support. I am on my way to see the dentist - I'll let you know how things turn out.

A torus is just a bony growth, it is not cancer. A palatine torus is not a disease, or anything to worry about. The only people that have issues with these, are people who have them who also need to have a denture rest on top of them. It's an issue of the bony lumps getting irritated by the denture base resting on them. Palatine tori do not occur overnight like you indicated yours did. Bony growths take years to develop. By waiting two weeks, this doctor is expecting the canker like sores to heal up in that period. Herpes simplex, which is what canker sores are, have no known cure, but they resolve and go away on their own in about 10 days. You didn't mention if this doctor took an x-ray. I would have expected this to be one of the first things he did if you told him that a few weeks ago these large bumps in the roof of your mouth didn't exist. An x-ray would have shown a cyst or an abcess, either of which could raise a pretty sore lump on the roof of your mouth.

You didn't say if you told him the lumps were new. If you had told him that, I believe that the whole issue of a palatinus torus would not have come up. As for finding pictures of tori, that isn't very helpful since you don't know what is under the NEW lumps on your palate. If they weren't there a week ago, it isn't bone.

Lastly, there are cancers of the salivary glands that MIGHT manefest themselves in this manner, again diagnostic radiographs would give some indication of this. But apparently he didn't think this worth pursuing for whatever reasons. Something which may make you feel better is that palatal cancers are relatively rare in the US. They do happen, but in very small numbers.

i just had to jump in on this because i too have those bony growths in the roof of my mouth. six months ago a sore developed at the back side of one near my throat. it got larger and became bright red and was very sore when i would eat. last thursday i had a biopsy. he cut about a fourth of the bony struture away. he thought it was nothing because cancer usually does not show up in the roof of the mouth. the biopsy came back on the following tuesday. it was a precancer lesion. he got it out in time. now i am struggling to give up the smoking that is being blamed. i'm not sure which is worse. just make sure to have it checked.