Marlene,

You certainly have a right to be confused having received so many different interpretations and opinions of the results of your 2 biopsies.

You don't mention where you are being seen. Is it a Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCC)? I am not an oncologist, but it seems to me that you really need to get some better answers before having a mandibulectomy done. "You don't have cancer, but you might" doesn't seem to me to be a definitive statement.

As far as the word "buccal" is concerned, it does mean cheek, but in dentistry it is used to designate the part of the anatomy that faces to cheek, so that the terms Buccal surface of a tooth or buccal mucosa are used to indicate the part of the tooth or gums facing toward the cheek. Perhaps this is why the term buccal scc was used. Is the area on the gums where your lesion is, on the cheek side?

I hope that there is a way for you to get to a CCC and get some answers from a team of docs that work together to come up with a nonconfusing diagnosis and treatment plan.

Jerry