After referral your doctor will gather information from you about the area of concern, how long it has been present, what symptoms it’s causing, any previous lesions. Any risk factors for mouth cancer are usually sort, followed by an assessment of your general medical health.

After this your doctor will examine the mouth as a whole and then focus on the lesion of concern. Particular features of concern are firmness (called ‘induration’), contact bleeding, ulceration or swellings, as these may suggest progression to a mouth cancer.

The definitive diagnosis is made following a biopsy, usually incisional (taking a piece of the tumour rather than all of it). This is a simple procedure where a small sample of tissue is taken from the area of concern either under local anaesthesia or sometimes under a short general anaesthetic depending on the circumstances. This sample is sent to the laboratory to be assessed by a leading pathologist, who will be able to diagnose dysplasia and grade its severity.