Intra Oral Biopsy – How It Could Save Your Life?
What is a biopsy?
Biopsy refers to a sample tissue taken from the site of any abnormality or suspicion for further investigation or microscopic examination. We perform intra oral biopsies to ensure a clear and proper diagnosis.
When Is It Conducted:
- Uncertain diagnosis with clinical examination.
- Pre-malignant conditions.
- Long-standing tumors.
- Painless hard swellings.
- Tumors that gradually increase in size.
- Cancerous conditions.
While there are are several types of biopsy, incisional and excisional biopsies are the most commonly used in intraoral procedures.
What Is Incisional intra oral biopsy:
Only a small amount or part of the tissue is removed from the whole mass of suspected tissue for examination. The tissue thus removed is a representative for the whole lesion.
What Are The Indications for Incisional biopsy:
A large lesion is difficult to remove completely and may require hospitalization. It is also recommended when the lesion is extensive and is present in multiple areas. Possible mutilation with complete removal.
Procedure:
It is performed under local anesthesia. The tissue is biopsied from the edge of the lesion to include 1mm of the surrounding normal tissue. In such circumstances, suturing is optional.
What Is Excisional intra oral biopsy:
This procedure involves surgically removing the entire mass of suspected tissue for examination.
What Are The Indications for Excisional biopsy:
The lesion should be small, benign, and with less chance of mutilation when completely removed.
Procedure:
Under local anesthesia, we remove the lesion completely along with 2 – 3mm of surrounding normal healthy tissue. In the case of malignant lesions, we can include around 5 or more mm of surrounding normal healthy tissue. Physicians perform suturing at the surgical site and transfer the biopsied tissue i to the pathologist in 10% formalin for further investigation.
Advantages of a right timed biopsy:
A biopsy is safe and usually a daycare procedure. We often recommend early diagnosis of malignant lesions to ensure proper intervention of the disease and increase chances of survival rate of an individual.
