Intraoral Biopsy (Inside the Mouth)

The biopsy is performed if a localized area of abnormal tissue looks suspicious to be malignant. A biopsy is a surgical procedure to remove a piece of tissue from the lesion for diagnostic and microscopic examination. The information obtained from a biopsy procedure assists the Surgeon in arriving at a diagnosis and predicting the prognosis of the disease. If the histopathology report of an oral biopsy has a premalignant or malignant diagnosis, the Surgeon must notify the patient of the results. Two common biopsy methods used  in dentistry are incisional and excisional methods. Incisional Method The  incision  method involves  the  removal  of  a sample of the lesion for examination. A wedge-shaped section  of  the tissue  from  the  lesion  along  with adjacent  normal  tissue  is  removed  for  comparison. The biopsy site is sutured and the patient is dismissed. The  incisional  method  generally  is  used  when  the lesion is  large  or  in  a  strategic  area  where  complete removal of the lesion would create significant esthetic or functional impairment. Complete surgical removal of the lesion is not indicated until a final diagnosis is made.  If  the  lesion  is  not  malignant,  it  is  allowed  to heal without further surgery. If a laboratory test shows the tissue is malignant, complete removal is indicated. Excisional Method The excision method involves removal   of   the entire lesion along with some adjacent normal tissue.

Following the biopsy the patient will receive a phone call or a one week follow up to review the results with the surgeon.