Question:

About 2 months ago I noticed a small bump in the rear area of my mouth on the interior of my cheek. At first I paid it no mind but as time went on I became more concerned, when I pulled the cheek out to look at it I noticed the bump appeared white but only when the cheek was stretched. The bump itself is the size of the tip of a pin. At the same time I noticed an even smaller bump on the other side of my mouth in roughly the same area this bump was even smaller. Both bumps are painless, do not bleed, have not changed in size and are virtually unnoticable. I had a dentist do an oral cancer check and look at the spots; he assured me that at my age 25 oral cancer is extremly rare and everything appeared normal he attributed the spots to teeth grinding and cheek biting while sleeping, he said that the spot in my cheek had turned fiborus and thats why it was white. Does this seem like a reasonable diagnosis? I also have fordyce spots on my lips is it a possibility that the spot in my cheek is one of those? Would removal be an option for piece of mind?

Answer:

One option would be to have your mouth examined by an oral pathologist. Excisional biopsy (removal of the lesions for microscopic examination) would make the most definitive diagnosis. However, given your age, the description of the lesions, and this anatomic location, these “spots” would be completely consistent with a benign process. The hassle, expense and pain of doing a biopsy would not be worth it from my perspective however.

For more information:

Go to the Dental and Oral Health (Adults) health topic.