Oral Pathology Treatment in Long Island City
Your dentist found something concerning. Here's what happens next.
We turn concern into clarity, then clarity into a plan.
When your dentist refers you for an oral pathology evaluation, it usually means they found something they want looked at more closely: a sore that isn't healing, a patch of unusual tissue, a lump, or a shadow on an x-ray. The question on most people's minds is the same: could this be cancer? Most of the time it isn't. But identifying what it actually is, accurately and quickly, is exactly what this evaluation is for. At Gantry OMS, we do the workup while working closely with oral pathologists to give you a straight answer, and then a clear path forward.
Some Conditions We See
Mucosal Lesions
The soft tissues of the mouth, such as the gums, tongue, cheeks, and throat, are common sites for both harmless and serious changes. A sore that won't heal, a patch that looks or feels different, or an unexplained lump are all worth having looked at. Caught early, most conditions are very treatable.
Dental Abnormalities
Some cysts and tumors develop silently around the roots of teeth or within the jawbone, causing no pain and no obvious symptoms. They're often spotted by chance on a routine dental x-ray. Without treatment, some can expand significantly, weaken the jaw, damage adjacent teeth, or in rarer cases turn cancerous.
Salivary Masses
A swelling near the jaw, cheek, floor of the mouth, or roof of the mouth sometimes points to a problem with the salivary glands. It could be a blocked duct, an infection, a benign growth, or in some cases a malignant tumor. Early evaluation makes a significant difference in outcomes.
Bone Conditions
The jawbones and surrounding skeletal structures can develop their own range of conditions, such as benign fibrous growths and rarer tumors. Some look similar on imaging but require very different treatment, making an accurate diagnosis essential before any treatment plan is made.
Have questions? We've got answers.
FAQs
Should I be worried about cancer?
The truth is that most suspicious findings that prompt a referral to us turn out to be benign. For some context, a 2015 study of over 1,000 biopsied oral lesions at Massachusetts General Hospital found that more than 92% resulted in a non-cancerous diagnosis. That's a reassuring baseline, and it's consistent with the experience at our practice. That said, some lesions sit in a middle category: not cancer, but not entirely dismissible either. Certain white or red patches in the mouth carry a real risk of progressing to cancer over time if left unmonitored, and that risk varies considerably depending on what the lesion actually is. A biopsy gives you a precise answer rather than a clinical estimate, which is invaluable. When oral cancer is caught early, survival rates exceed 85%; when it isn't, they drop to roughly 40%. The entire point of early evaluation is to make sure that anything that does need attention gets it before that window closes.
What are the risk factors for oral cancer?
The most significant risk factors are tobacco use in any form, heavy alcohol consumption, sun exposure (for cancers of the lip), and infection with HPV-16, the strain of human papillomavirus responsible for the majority of oropharyngeal cancers (those arising in the back of the throat, tonsils, and base of the tongue). Smokers are roughly 4 to 7 times more likely to develop oral cancer than non-smokers, and heavy drinkers (three or more drinks per day) carry about twice the baseline risk. When tobacco and alcohol are used together, the two substances amplify each other's effects; in the United States, up to 75% of oral cancers are linked to the combination of tobacco and alcohol use.
Having one or more of these risk factors doesn't mean you'll develop oral cancer, but it does make regular screening worthwhile. It's also worth noting that a growing proportion of oral cancers occur in people with no obvious risk factors at all, which is why any persistent unusual change in the mouth deserves evaluation regardless of your history.
What does the evaluation involve?
Every case starts with a clinical exam and a review of any existing information. From there, we may order additional x-rays or advanced imaging, and in some cases bloodwork can be useful. If the findings warrant it, a biopsy is performed to obtain tissue for analysis by a specialist oral pathologist. Most biopsies are done in-office under local anesthesia and take only a few minutes.
How long does it take to get biopsy results?
Biopsy specimens are shipped overnight to our pathology lab, where they are processed for testing. Results for routine findings are generally available after a week. Cases requiring special confirmatory tests or input from additional specialists may take a little longer. We'll walk you through the findings and what they mean at your follow-up appointment.
What happens if something needs further treatment?
Treatment depends entirely on the diagnosis. Many conditions are addressed through surgical removal of the affected tissue, which can sometimes be done in-office. More complex cases may require a procedure in a hospital operating room. If reconstruction is needed, Dr. Miller will discuss your options as part of the treatment plan.