Grassdeer,

I am in the military too. 24 years active duty USAF. I agree about our dentists they aren't very experienced in looking for oral cancer effectively. I'm not saying they are bad dentists but they just don't deal with oral cancer all that much. I would push for a referral to a specialist down town, an ENT, to be thoroughly checked out.

I was actually deployed and was fortunate enough to find a Dr that took in to account my family history and risk factors, she had the guts to get me aerovac'd to see an ENT surgeon in Japan for a biopsy. That's how my cancer was caught.

There is a saying around here; It's not cancer until the pathology confirms it. I pray that all your tests will come back negative. I understand about your stress level. I smoked for 15 years to cope and increased everytime I deployed. Quitting is/was the smart thing to do, I/we just pray it not too late.