hello there. To try to help you answer some questions. My cancer was in my tongue, and didn't have any signs on the outer parts of my tongue until it made my tongue swell up against my teeth and that was when I noticed something was wrong, otherwise, I wouldn't have noticed. I saw my dentist and an oral surgeon for 5 months and they both swore up and down that it wasn't cancer until the biopsy the oral surgeon did that was for "precancer" came back as cancer stage 3. Mine was in my tongue, almost near the middle but more on the right side and near the back part of my tongue.

When they did the biopsy, my tongue was pretty tender for quite a while, but I was able to go on with life as usual, except for eating, I had to eat softer stuff for a while, but like I said, mine was near the back and pretty big, and I had a lot of pain before they biopsied, so it only intensified the pain I already was experiencing, so if you do get a biopsy, your experience may not be as bad as mine was.

Is your spot causing you any pain?

Also, if you saw that oral surgeon already, one or more times, and he/she was still insisting there wasn't anything there, you can try to see them again, but it may be wiser to try to see someone else that has more experience with oral cancer.

As for scans, it has been my experience that they would rather biopsy before scan, but that may not always be the case. I would just try to see someone who has knowledge and experience with oral cancer, an ENT or oral surgeon. I see an oral surgeon who is a head and neck cancer specialist now and he is amazing.

I hope that you get answers to your questions soon and hope that this isn't cancer, but if it is, this group is a great group of supportive people! will keep you in my thoughts!