Oral & facial surgery in Glasgow

Procedures undertaken by our Specialists

The remit of the specialists is large but the most common procedures undertaken at the Centre are for problem mouth conditions. These are usually under taken under local anaesthetic but can also be aided with sedation which is administered by our experienced anaesthetists.

These include:

• impacted wisdom teeth
• Surgery for infection around tooth roots
• Removal of cysts and buried roots from the jaws
• Soft tissue lump removal or biopsy of areas of the mouth as necessary

They will also remove lumps from around the face including

• Moles and cysts

Skin cancer of the face and neck- the incidence if skin cancer is increasing . This is due to increasing travel to warmer climes and also the increasing age of the population. Both these factors increase the cumulative exposure to ultra violet radiation the main cause of skin cancer.

There are three main types of skin cancer. The most indolent is a basal cell carcinoma or rodent ulcer. It very rarely spreads and tends to take months to increase in size. It usually has a silver edge and may bleed as it increases in size.

The intermediate type is a squamous cell carcinoma which is usually slow growing but in certain sites around the face is more likely to spread to lymph glands. It usually presents as red or scaly path that increases in size quite quickly and readily bleeds.

The third type is melanoma which can be very aggressive. These usually present as a dark mole or neavus and if patients have a new naevus or an existing neavus that bleeds or changes colour then it should be looked at by a healthcare professional.

The primary treatment of skin cancer is surgical and our consultants are able to provide treatment for this in our centre. Occasionally in some cases they will be referred on to specialist treatment units.

Removal of facial skin cancer is a specialist area in that scars need to be hidden and skin may need to be transposed using small local flaps. Our consultants have been trained in this area and have a wide experience in treating facial and neck skin cancer.

Long term review will be required usually attending twice per year for a check up.

Some procedures are difficult and not possible to carry out under local analgesia and admission to hospital may be necessary. Our specialists will organise that for you after discussion.