Some say I'm just paranoid but better safe than sorry. I usually end up posting here whenever I have some sort of anamoly in my mouth because I am having a heck of a time kicking the dip habit and I always think of the worst possible scenerio.

A little over 3 years ago I had a sore on the side of my tongue...( I may have had problems before then but thats the first time I actually got nervous about it).. it hurt and after abotu 2 weeks then it cleared up. Periodically it seems to return in the same place. I used to have a sharp edge of a tooth there but I had it removed. It used to be painful whenever it would flare up But lately if I have a "flare up" I get not what I would call painful but an uncomfortable feeling there. I've been to the dentist several times since it originally turned up. I've also been to an oral surgeon twice to have wisdom teeth removed as recently as a few months ago. He did a cancer screening last year I know .. but not sure about this past time. I was out of it because of the surgery. I also had a periodontist look at me last year and gave a full scale cancer screening. He did tell me I had geographic tongue but nothing else to worry about. When I feel around back there I dont feel anything strange. My question is what would cause something like this? Im gonna make another appointment with the dentist but has anyone heard of something like this where it comes and goes?

Oh and by the way, I just trashed every can of dip I had in the house.

Robbie, your last post just made my day!

Good for you!!

OK I talked the oral surgeon into seeing me today. He said it looked like an averaged size ulcer that was trying to heal and that he thought I might have been biting my tongue while I sleep. He gave me a perscription for an oral rinse called peridox I think . (Chlorhexidine gluconate is the generic name) He said to come back and see him next week and he expected it to be healed up. He said if it wasnt he would just cut it out. He said the procedure would be very simple and recovery wouldnt be any worse than when I had my wisdom teeth pulled. He also said I shouldn't worry because if it was anything serious and its been there that long i wouldnt have a tongue or I wouldnt be here. I remeber reading that pain was usually present in later stages of OC so if it hurt 3 years ago wouldnt it have grown or spread since then if it were malignant? What gets me about this is that it'll bother me for a while and then I'll go weeks or months and forget all about it. But the fact that the off and on cycle has been going on so long and its in the same place is what bothers me. Any input please?

Hi Robbie,

Glad to read the dip is gone.

What the oral surgeon gave you is Peridex. You got the generic right. Happy to hear that he will be doing a biopsy next week if it is not gone. That IS the only way to be sure that it is nothing to be concerned about. Healing from a biosy is nothing to be concerned about. I would say it's less of a concern than healing from wisdom teeth extractions.

Good luck.

Jerry

he sounded like he wasnt going to take just a piece but cut the whole thing out. Is that going to be the end of it?

Most likely he will just cut out a piece for the biopsy. The reason being is that if it is cancer, heaven forbid, you will need to have a doctor cut it out so they know that they got it as well as the margins around it. If your oral surgeon cuts it out, the doctor won't know where the margins are to make sure there was not any local spread. At that point they will then test the margins to see if there was spread and develop a treatment plan from there.

It probably is nothing, but please make sure to follow-up with a biopsy if it doesn't go away-regardless if you have pain or not.

I see what you;re saying senator but he said if its still there "we'll cut it out and be done with it" which gives me the impression that he plans on removing the whoe ulcer.... I asked if it was big or small he said it was just average. He doesnt seem to be very converned but I;ve been pacing the floor.

I REALLY hate to keep posting but I think I just need to vent and hopefully find some company and comfort here. I'm almost positive this thing goes and comes back at the same spot. I know it does go through phases where it doesnt hurt or irritate me I forget all about it. I don't know very much about the growth rate of these things. I'm 32 this all started 3 years ago. So wouldn't it be more than just "an average ulcer" by now if it was OC?

Robbie,

What Senator13 told you is correct. It is better not to remove the whole thing. In my case, the scc was so small, that the biopsy actually did remove the whole thing. When I went to the head and neck surgeon, he said that he wished that he had done the biosy, as there were no signs left of the scc. However, during the partial glossectomy, he made wide enough margins around the area where the tumor had been to be assured that there were clear margins. The pathology report confirmed this.

But, all of this hopefully will not pertain to you.

Jerry