Hi Mike - thanks for your reply. Good to hear that you are a 10 year survivor - I look forward to the day that I can say that! I wish there were more research being done on OLP as it is such a strange disease. Luckily my SCC was caught early and that I know enough about my particular form of it that the spot that wouldn't heal just didn't look and act like other outbreaks. Even at that I had the spot for a couple of months before I went for a biopsy. I had had my teeth cleaned in December and this spot showed up in late April. Apparently nothing alerted my dentist and hygenist in December. I find that stress has a lot to do with the severity of the outbreaks but if you have any suggestions for me about things to avoid doing, eating or otherwise I'd be grateful if you'd share your thoughts. Thanks again for your input. As a side note, we did a camping tour of the Maritimes in 2002 and thoroughly enjoyed your part of the world. Best wishes to you. FP