How to effectively treat a bite inside your mouth. What are the common causes of mouth injuries. When should you seek medical attention for a bitten lip or cheek. How to manage pain and swelling from oral injuries. What are the best home remedies for canker sores. How to prevent infection after biting your lip or tongue.

Common Causes and Symptoms of Mouth Injuries

Mouth injuries, particularly biting the inside of the lip, cheek, or tongue, are prevalent issues that many people experience. These injuries can occur due to various reasons:

• Accidentally biting while eating or talking
• Falls or collisions
• Sports-related incidents
• Seizures
• Stress-induced behaviors
• Misaligned teeth

The symptoms of a mouth injury typically include:

• Pain at the site of injury
• Swelling
• Redness
• Sensitivity
• Bleeding (which can be profuse due to the rich blood supply in the mouth)

In some cases, more severe injuries may result in cuts, bumps, canker sores, or even mucoceles (mucus-filled cysts).

Immediate First Aid for Bitten Lips and Mouth Injuries

When you’ve bitten the inside of your mouth, prompt action can help minimize pain and promote faster healing. Here’s a step-by-step guide for immediate first aid:

1. Inspect the wound for any foreign objects or debris, especially if the injury occurred during an accident. If you find anything embedded in the wound, do not attempt to remove it yourself. Seek medical attention immediately.
2. Clean the affected area gently using a clean, soft cloth. Avoid scrubbing or rubbing, as this may cause further irritation.
3. Rinse your mouth with cool water to remove any blood and soothe the injury.
4. Apply pressure to the bite using clean gauze or a cloth for 5-10 minutes. If bleeding persists, replace the gauze and continue applying pressure.
5. Once bleeding has stopped, wrap an ice cube in a clean cloth and apply it to the wound to reduce swelling.

Effective Home Remedies for Healing Mouth Injuries

After providing immediate first aid, several home remedies can help manage symptoms and prevent infection as the injury heals:

Saltwater Rinse

A saltwater rinse is an excellent way to reduce pain and protect the wound from harmful bacteria. To create a saltwater solution:

1. Dissolve 1 teaspoon of non-iodized salt in 1 cup of warm water
2. Swish the solution in your mouth for 4 minutes
3. Spit out the solution (do not swallow)

Cold Compress Application

To manage swelling, continue applying cold compresses to the injured area. You can use an ice cube wrapped in a clean cloth or a cold pack designed for oral use.

Over-the-Counter Pain Relief

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen, aspirin, or naproxen can help manage pain and reduce inflammation. Always follow the recommended dosage instructions on the packaging.

Oral Antiseptic Gel

Applying an over-the-counter oral antiseptic gel can help prevent infection and provide pain relief. These gels often contain ingredients like benzocaine or lidocaine, which have numbing properties.

Treating Specific Types of Mouth Injuries

While the general treatment principles remain similar, certain types of mouth injuries may require specific attention:

Bitten Cheek or Tongue

Bitten cheeks and tongues are common injuries that can occur during everyday activities or due to misaligned teeth. To treat these injuries:

• Rinse your mouth with saltwater
• Apply an ice cube directly to the bite, or suck on an ice cube for tongue injuries
• Take NSAIDs for pain relief
• Apply an oral antiseptic gel to prevent infection

Canker Sores

Canker sores, also known as aphthous ulcers, are small, painful lesions that can develop on the soft tissues of the mouth. These sores can be caused by various factors, including mouth injuries, stress, vitamin deficiencies, or hormonal changes. To treat canker sores:

• Rinse your mouth with saltwater
• Use an antiseptic mouth sore rinse
• Apply an ice cube to the sore
• Take NSAIDs for pain relief
• Apply a topical oral pain medication directly to the sore

When to Seek Medical Attention for Mouth Injuries

While most minor mouth injuries can be treated at home, certain situations require professional medical attention. Seek medical help if you or your child experience any of the following:

• A deep or large wound (longer than 1/2 inch)
• A cut that extends through the lip
• Debris stuck in the wound that cannot be easily removed
• Persistent bleeding that doesn’t stop with pressure
• Severe or worsening pain
• Difficulty opening or closing the mouth
• Signs of infection (increased redness, swelling, warmth, or pus)

It’s crucial to seek immediate medical attention if the wound results from a serious injury, such as a motor vehicle accident or a major fall.

Prevention Strategies for Reducing Mouth Injuries

While accidents can happen, there are several strategies you can employ to reduce the risk of mouth injuries:

Proper Dental Alignment

Misaligned teeth can increase the likelihood of biting your cheeks or tongue. Consider orthodontic treatment if you frequently experience these issues.

Mouthguards for Sports

When participating in contact sports or activities with a high risk of facial injury, wear a properly fitted mouthguard to protect your teeth, lips, and cheeks.

Mindful Eating

Take your time while eating and avoid talking with food in your mouth to reduce the risk of accidentally biting your cheek, lip, or tongue.

Stress Management

Since stress can contribute to mouth injuries through nervous habits or teeth grinding, practice stress-reduction techniques such as meditation, deep breathing, or regular exercise.

Long-Term Care and Follow-Up for Recurring Mouth Injuries

If you find yourself frequently experiencing mouth injuries, it’s essential to address the underlying causes and consider long-term solutions:

Dental Evaluation

Schedule a comprehensive dental evaluation to check for any misalignments or structural issues that may be contributing to recurrent injuries.

Habit Assessment

Pay attention to any habits that might be causing repeated injuries, such as biting your lip or cheek when stressed. Work on breaking these habits or finding alternative stress-relief methods.

Nutritional Considerations

Ensure you’re getting adequate vitamins and minerals, particularly vitamin C and B complex vitamins, which play a role in oral health and wound healing.

Regular Dental Check-ups

Maintain regular dental appointments to monitor your oral health and address any developing issues before they lead to injuries.

Understanding the Healing Process of Mouth Injuries

The mouth is known for its remarkable healing abilities due to its rich blood supply and the constant presence of saliva, which contains growth factors and antimicrobial properties. However, understanding the healing process can help you manage expectations and care for your injury more effectively:

Stages of Healing

1. Hemostasis: The initial stage where bleeding stops and a blood clot forms.
2. Inflammation: Characterized by redness, swelling, and pain as the body’s immune response kicks in.
3. Proliferation: New tissue begins to form, and the wound starts to close.
4. Remodeling: The final stage where the new tissue strengthens and returns to normal function.

Typical Healing Timeline

Most minor mouth injuries heal within 1-2 weeks. However, larger or deeper wounds may take longer. Factors that can affect healing time include:

• The severity of the injury
• Your overall health and immune function
• Proper wound care and hygiene
• Nutritional status
• Presence of underlying health conditions

Throughout the healing process, it’s important to maintain good oral hygiene, follow the recommended treatment plan, and be patient as your body repairs the injury.

How to Treat a Bite Inside Your Mouth

Biting the inside of your lip can be painful. It often happens accidentally and is especially common in children. You might bite the inside of your lip:

• while eating or talking
• during a fall, collision, or other accident
• while playing sports
• during a seizure
• due to stress

Although the injury can hurt, it usually doesn’t need medical attention. You can treat a minor bite at home with self-care measures.

Read on to learn about treatment options for a bite inside your lip, and when you should call a doctor.

When you bite the inside of your lip, your teeth press against your skin. This can hurt because your lips have many nerve endings, which makes them very sensitive to pain.

Plus, if the bite punctures your skin, you may have a lot of bleeding. That’s because your lips have a rich supply of blood.

Other possible symptoms of a bitten lip include:

• swelling
• redness
• sensitivity

Depending on the force of the bite, it can also cause injuries like:

• cuts
• bumps
• canker sores
• mucocele (mucus-filled cyst)

In most cases, you can treat a bitten lip at home. Also, because your lips get a lot of blood, the bite should heal quickly.

Here’s how to clean and treat a bite inside your lip:

1. Check the wound for dirt or debris, especially if you bit your lip during an accident. If there’s anything stuck in the wound, don’t remove it. Get medical attention immediately.
2. Gently clean the area with a clean cloth. Don’t scrub or rub the wound.
3. Rinse your lip with cool water.
4. Place clean gauze or a clean cloth on the bite. Apply pressure for 5 to 10 minutes. If it continues to bleed, place a new piece of gauze on top and keep applying pressure.
5. Once the bleeding stops, wrap an ice cube or ice pack in a clean cloth and apply it to the wound. This will help reduce swelling.

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As the bite heals, you can take the following steps to manage symptoms and prevent infection:

• Rinse with saltwater. Saltwater can help reduce pain and protect your wound from harmful bacteria. Dissolve 1 teaspoon of non-iodized salt in 1 cup of warm water, then swish in your mouth for 4 minutes.
• Apply a cold compress. To manage swelling, place an ice cube on the inside of your lip. If you’re using an ice pack, wrap it in a clean cloth first.
• Take over-the-counter (OTC) pain medication. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), like ibuprofen, aspirin, or naproxen, can help manage pain and swelling.
• Apply an oral antiseptic gel. An OTC oral antiseptic gel works against infection-causing bacteria. Many of these gels also relieve pain.

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You can treat other types of mouth injuries with similar home remedies. Let’s look at some of the most common mouth injuries and the steps you can take to treat them.

Bitten cheek or bitten tongue

A bitten cheek or tongue are both common mouth injuries that can happen during:

• eating
• playing sports
• a fall or collision

A bitten cheek or tongue can also be caused by misaligned teeth. Normally, your upper teeth stop you from biting your cheeks and your lower teeth protect your tongue. But a misalignment can cause accidental bites.

Symptoms of a bitten cheek or tongue include the following symptoms at the site of the bite:

• pain
• redness
• swelling
• bleeding

To treat a bitten cheek or tongue:

1. Rinse your mouth with saltwater.
2. Place an ice cube on the bite, or suck on an ice cube for a tongue bite.
3. Take NSAIDs for pain relief.
4. Apply oral antiseptic gel to the bite to prevent an infection.

Canker sores

A canker sore, or aphthous ulcer, is a small red sore with a white center. It usually has an oval or round shape. Canker sores can develop on your:

• inner lips and cheeks
• tongue
• gums

These sores can have many possible causes, including:

• mouth injuries, like biting the inside of your lip
• viral infection
• stress
• vitamin or mineral deficiency
• food allergy
• hormonal changes

Treatments for canker sores include:

• rinsing your mouth with saltwater
• using an antiseptic mouth sore rinse
• applying an ice cube on the sore
• taking NSAIDs for pain relief
• applying a topical oral pain medication on the sore

Minor mouth injuries like a bite typically don’t need stitches or medical attention. But if you or your child have any of the following symptoms, be sure to call a doctor:

• a deep or large wound (longer than 1/2 inch)
• a cut that goes through the lip
• debris stuck in the wound
• bleeding that won’t stop
• severe or worsening pain
• difficulty opening or closing your mouth
• signs of infection

It’s important to get medical help if the wound is due to a serious injury, like a motor vehicle accident or a major fall.

Biting the inside of your lip is a common mouth injury. Depending on the severity of the bite, it can cause pain, bleeding, and swelling.

Typically, you can treat a minor bitten lip at home. Rinse the area with cool water and apply pressure with clean gauze to stop the bleeding. You can also suck on an ice cube to reduce swelling.

Get medical help if your lip bite doesn’t stop bleeding. You should call a doctor if you have symptoms of infection or pain that gets worse. If your injury is due to a major accident or a serious fall, seek medical help right away.

Causes, Treatment, When to Seek Help, and More

Lip Biting: Causes, Treatment, When to Seek Help, and More

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Medically reviewed by Cynthia Cobb, DNP, APRN, WHNP-BC, FAANP — By Julie Ryan Evans — Updated on September 18, 2018

Overview

Biting your lip from time to time isn’t a problem. However, in some cases, people are unable to control the habit, and it becomes what’s known as a body-focused repetitive behavior (BFRB).

While not specifically referred in the newest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), chronic lip biting falls under “other specified obsessive-compulsive and related disorders,” specifically under BFRB.

A BFRB is different from someone who just occasionally exhibits a behavior, such as lip biting. For people with BFRBs, the behavior causes the person distress or interferes with their ability to function.

Severity can vary greatly. BFRBs aren’t considered a form of self-mutilation, like cutting. Even though some BFRBs result in bodily harm, people with BFRBs aren’t intentionally harming themselves.

Stress and anxiety are typically related to lip biting. But there’s also some evidence that people may have a biological predisposition to BFRBs such as lip biting. Other factors that may be related to developing a BFRB include:

• Age. Most BFRBs develop between the ages of 11 to 15.
• Sex. Women are more likely to develop BFRBs than men.

Temperament and environment can also play a role in developing BFRBs.

According to the TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors, research indicates that most BFRBs aren’t related to trauma or other unresolved psychological issues.

In some cases, chronic lip biting is accidental and the result of a dental condition. These include:

Malocclusion

A malocclusion refers to a condition in which your bite is misaligned. This could make you more likely to bite your lip.

Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder

TMJ disorder is a group of conditions that result in pain and dysfunction in the TMJ. This is the joint that connects your lower jaw to your skull. It can also cause people to accidentally bite their lip.

Other BFRBs

BFRBs refer to a group of related disorders in which people repeatedly touch their hair or body in a physically damaging way. Research from the TLC Foundation suggests that 3 percent or more of the population suffers from a BFRB. However, many cases are undiagnosed. Other BFRBs include:

• trichotillomania, the uncontrollable pulling of hair
• excoriation disorder, the compulsive picking of skin
• onychophagia, chronic nail biting
• chronic tongue chewing
• trichophagia, the compulsive eating of hair

If your lip biting feels accidental, see a dentist. They can evaluate whether you might have a dental condition that’s causing you to bite your lip.

If your lip biting is something you’re doing to relieve stress or gain some sense of pleasure that feels out of your control, seek out a mental health counselor. They’ll review your symptoms and your psychiatric and medical history to determine the best course of treatment.

Many people are unaware they’re biting their lip when they’re doing it. Becoming conscious of the behavior is often the first step. This can be achieved by training yourself to note the feelings that lead up to lip biting, or recording the behavior and circumstances at the time through journaling.

Other treatment options for habitual lip biting may include:

• cognitive behavioral therapy
• counseling
• relaxation techniques
• hypnosis
• acupuncture
• prescription sedatives
• prosthetic shields or soft mouth guards
• replacement behaviors, such as chewing gum instead

If lip biting is caused by dental issues, then treatment may include:

• braces
• surgery
• removal of teeth
• wires or plates to stabilize the jaw bone
• jaw exercises
• surgery

When lip biting is persistent, it can lead to complications in some cases. These include:

• redness
• inflammation
• painful sores
• psychological stress, such as feelings of guilt and hopelessness

Managing stress through exercise, breathing exercises, and other healthy lifestyle choices may help prevent BFRBs in some cases. Practicing mindfulness when it comes to any behavior that starts to feel repetitive and redirecting the behavior may also help.

It’s also important to note that BFRBs can reoccur. Remain alert to symptoms even after you’ve been successfully treated for a BFRB. Typically, previously effective strategies can be employed again. In some cases, new treatment methods will need to be explored.

If you bite your lip from time to time, it’s probably nothing to be worried about. However, there are instances of lip biting that can be harmful to your health and well-being. If you find that your lip biting is uncontrollable and you can’t stop it yourself, seek professional treatment. There are a variety of options to help you stop and live a full and healthy life.

Last medically reviewed on October 27, 2017

How we reviewed this article:

Healthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical associations. We avoid using tertiary references. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.

• Bhatia SK, et al. (2013). Habitual biting of oral mucosa: A conservative treatment approach. DOI:  
  10.4103%2F0976-237X.118357
• Golomb R, et al. (2016). Expert consensus treatment guidelines: Body-focused repetitive behaviors.
  bfrb.org/storage/documents/Expert_Consensus_Treatment_Guidelines_2016w.pdf
• Other body-focused repetitive behaviors. (n.d.).
  bfrb.org/learn-about-bfrbs/other-bfrbs
• Siddiqui EU, et al. (2012). Prevalence of body-focused repetitive behaviors in three large medical colleges of karachi: A cross-sectional study. DOI:
  10.1186/1756-0500-5-614
• Why do I bite my lip all the time? (2017). 
  drwinans.com/2017/02/bite-lip-time/

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Medically reviewed by Cynthia Cobb, DNP, APRN, WHNP-BC, FAANP — By Julie Ryan Evans — Updated on September 18, 2018

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Why do you bite your lips and how to get rid of this dangerous habit

Lip biting is a common habit. Where does it come from, what is dangerous and how to stop biting your lips. The Challenger dealt with the issue together with Oksana Chashchina, a dermatologist and cosmetologist at the Atlas Medical Center.

Why we bite our lips

When we are nervous, repetitive, monotonous movements are calming. At least we think so. Some, in moments of excitement, twist some object in their hands, such as a pen or a lighter, others tap their fingers on the table or unlock and lock the smartphone again. And someone bites his nails or bites his lips. This is more serious, because in the long run it can be harmful to health.

Oksana Chashchina

dermatologist-cosmetologist of the medical center “Atlas”

— The harmful habit of biting lips is diverse in its manifestations: a person can bite the lips themselves, the oral mucosa, or pinch off the crusts that form on the lips with their fingers. The reasons for the emergence of habits are also different.

• Psychological. This habit can be formed as early as childhood and is often combined with nail biting. The universal advice – to control yourself and not be nervous – is not so easy to follow, because the need for control requires constant tension and can aggravate the situation. In this case, it is better to consult a psychologist.
• Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. A crust on the lips and plaque on the transitional mucosa of the lip and internal mucosa of the mouth can indicate problems in the gastrointestinal tract: a change in the acidity (pH) of saliva or inflammatory diseases of the esophagus, stomach, duodenum, small intestine. This can be ruled out after examination by a gastroenterologist.

In addition, an incorrect or misaligned bite can lead to lip biting. Then the lips literally “fall” under the bite all the time, and the temptation to do this is great. Anxiety and stress also lead to this habit.

Is biting your lips dangerous?

Canadian scientists have found that even the thought of lip biting can lead a person to do so immediately. If you occasionally notice this habit behind you, most likely, everything is in order. However, chronic lip biting, which is harmful to health and interferes with life, belongs to obsessive-compulsive disorders (according to the American classification system of mental disorders DSM-5). But such a diagnosis should be made by a doctor.

Oksana Chashchina

dermatologist-cosmetologist of the medical center “Atlas”

– Regular lip biting can lead to inflammation. Signs – tender tissues of the lips are swollen, redness and pain appear. In addition, if you touch the sores on the lips with dirty hands, you can get an infection. If there is a herpes virus in the body, then if the tissues of the lips are injured, it can manifest itself. Herpes takes a long time to heal, but scars remain on the lips. Over time, lips can lose their vibrant color.

Bitten fabrics have uneven edges, and therefore they want to “bite off” further. It turns out a vicious circle. However, if you make an effort on yourself and restrain yourself, the tissues recover quite quickly. But it all depends on the depth of the damage – if the wounds are deep, prolonged scars will still be felt.

How to stop biting your lips

• Find the cause. Figure out why you’re actually biting your lips. If you are calm, then perhaps the problem is with the gastrointestinal tract. Stressful situations or troubles in life are another matter, and it is necessary to exclude them. Correcting an overbite can help too.
• Practice mindfulness. When you really want to bite your lips, take a deep breath and exhale several times, get up and walk for a couple of minutes, sit down to distract yourself.
• Exfoliate and moisturize. The lip scrub leaves skin soft and smooth, while the moisturizer hydrates lips and prevents flaking. If the lips are flaky, it is possible that the body lacks vitamin A – it improves the condition of the skin and eliminates dryness.

Oksana Chashchina

dermatologist-cosmetologist of the medical center “Atlas”

– Apply dexpanthenol ointment (Bepanthen*) to your lips every night before going to bed, and in the morning rinse and gently massage your lips with a toothbrush (remember to wash it with soap before). You can also use lipstick more often: many women stop biting their lips so as not to ruin their makeup and “eat” a beautiful color.

Introduction of fillers and biorevitalizants based on hyaluronic acid * reduces skin dehydration and prevents the formation of crusts on the lips. Consult with a beautician if you want to do a similar procedure.

* There are contraindications, before use it is necessary to consult a specialist.

What is the result

Lip biting is a destructive habit, there is nothing good in it. If done occasionally, there will be no harm, but injury to the lips on a permanent basis can lead to inflammation, infection, and scarring. Check with your doctor if you feel like you are out of control.

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Lip Cancer: Signs, Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment

What people habitually call “lips” is actually only a part of this anatomical structure, and it is called “red border of lips”. The lips also include the perioral region – the thin skin around the mouth, turning into a red border, as well as the mucous membrane, which ends with the frenulum of the upper and lower lips, and then passes into gums .

The red color of the organ is associated with a large number of blood vessels passing close to the surface of the mucous membrane, and increased sensitivity is associated with abundant innervation: there are more nerves on the surface of the lips than on the fingertips. The mucosa consists of squamous non-keratinizing epithelium, which, with chronic damage and predisposing factors, tends to turn into squamous cell carcinoma.

What is lip cancer

^[1,2]

Lip cancer is a malignant tumor that grows from epithelial cells that make up the red border. This type of cancer has several forms, depending on where the tumor grows from:

• papillary form grows from the superficial layer of the epithelium;
• warty – from foci of dyskeratosis, disruption of the stratum corneum of the mucosa;
• the ulcerative form is formed from foci of erythroplakia – degeneration of the mucosa, is characterized by rapid development and aggressive spread. The most common ulcer is cancer of the upper lip.

In addition to the clinical course described above, lip cancer is classified according to the TNM system:

• T (from the Latin tumor – “tumor”) – at what stage is the tumor focus itself;
• N (from the Latin nodus – “nodule”) – whether there are metastases in the nearby lymph nodes;
• M (from the Greek “movement”) – whether metastases have gone to distant organs.

This code specifies the stage of the cancer process. For example, T1N1M0 is deciphered as follows: the size of the tumor itself is a maximum of 2 cm, metastases in one regional node are not more than 3 cm, there are no distant metastases. This is necessary for the clarity of the diagnosis, the preparation of an optimal treatment plan and the prediction of the outcome of the disease.

Lip cancer is more common in men over 60 years of age, while the tumor focus in most cases has a typical location: about 90% of cases is cancer of the lower lip. There is evidence that a lower incidence of cancer of the lower lip in women is associated with the use of lipstick and balms

Surgical treatment of lip cancer, M.D. A. Moretti

Causes and risk factors

^[1,2]

There are several reasons that can become provoking factors for the formation of a malignant process in epithelial cells.

• Living in areas with bright and aggressive sun, high air temperatures, for example, in the foothills, in desert areas. At risk are fair-skinned men who work outdoors.
• Work in conditions where the environment contains substances that are carcinogens, that is, provoking the formation of cancer cells.
• Conditions due to which the lips are constantly injured, and the epithelium does not have the opportunity for normal renewal and recovery. These habits include smoking, chewing tobacco, betel, nasvay, snus, and biting lips when nervous.
• Permanent mechanical irritation of the inner part of the lips (mucosa): piercing, biting with a denture , proximity to carious teeth.
• The presence of chronic inflammatory processes in the oral cavity, including cheilitis (mucosal inflammation), fungal diseases, herpes, papillomas, leukoplakia, hyperkeratosis.

Possible signs

^[1,2]

Like many cancers, in the early stages of lip cancer, there are practically no symptoms and may look like a slight darkening or redness. Then there is a change in the appearance of the mucosa – a bubble or seal appears. In most cases, this is the so-called invasive carcinoma – the beginning of the active stage of lip cancer. After it, the growth of the tumor begins, which in advanced cases spreads to the nearest parts of the head – the skin, bones, as well as regional and distant lymph nodes. Squamous cell carcinoma of the lip can metastasize (spread through the blood and lymph) to other parts of the body, often to the lungs.

Cancer of the lip is treated in the oncology dispensary and on an outpatient basis. In the presence of any suspicious signs – plaques, crusts, warts, cracks, especially in combination with risk factors, it is necessary to contact a general practitioner or dentist for a referral to an oncologist.

Diagnosis to rule out or confirm the diagnosis

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Signs of lip cancer are non-specific, therefore, most often only at the stage of invasive carcinoma, patients notice painful itching, tension, twitching sensation, and already with these symptoms they go to the doctor. To clarify the diagnosis, the oncologist first conducts an examination with an anamnesis, finds out if the patient has factors predisposing to the formation of a tumor. Then, for further cytological and histological examination, a scraping is taken from the visible foci of the neoplasm. It is studied under a microscope and the condition of the cells of the mucosa, their changes are determined.

If a malignant lesion on the lip is confirmed, then the diagnosis of the spread of cancer throughout the body is carried out. For this purpose, the following is carried out:

• Ultrasound of the lymph nodes, including the retroperitoneal space and abdominal cavity;
• chest x-ray;
• if necessary, computed tomography (CT) of the bones of the skull and upper shoulder girdle;
• osteoscintigraphy (assessment of the condition of the bones of the upper and lower jaws).

Laboratory blood tests, ECG, consultations with doctors from other specialties are also ordered to understand the risks and exclude diseases similar to lip cancer.

Methods of treatment

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The two main principles on which the treatment of lip cancer is based are the removal of the focus itself and the prevention of the oncological process from spreading further. The method of treatment depends on the TNM indicators, that is, on how large the oncological primary focus is and how far the metastases have spread.

In the early stages, start with surgery followed by radiotherapy, and in more advanced cases, with radiotherapy, followed by surgery to remove the remaining lesion. As for chemotherapy for the treatment of the tumor itself, it does not give a sufficient effect, therefore, it is included in the protocol only for distant metastases.

The prognosis, subject to a correctly drawn up treatment plan, depends on the stage at which the disease was detected, how effective the therapy was.

In the early stages of lip cancer, almost all patients are completely cured, with a tumor larger than 2 cm and the presence of metastases in the lymph nodes, recovery is possible in about 70% of cases, and if there are large metastases and distant lymph nodes are affected, then the prognosis averages 50 -55% cures.

It is important that lip cancer is fairly well preventable. If provoking factors are avoided, including timely care of teeth and treat dental diseases, then the likelihood of developing this oncopathology can be significantly reduced.

Medical expert: Oleg Sergeevich Shchekin

The date of the last update: July 21, 2021

List of sources:

1. Surgical dentistry: Textbook /Ed. T. G. Robustova. – 3rd ed., revised. and additional – M.: Medicine, 2003. – 504 p. Ss. 394-396
2. Clinical guidelines. Lip cancer. – Year of approval: 2017. // https://oncology-association.ru/docs/rak-guby.