Cyst removal
For a fluid-filled lump in the jaw or the lining of the mouth, whether you can feel it or an X-ray found it.
A cyst is a sac of fluid in the jaw or the lining of the mouth, often at the tip of a dead tooth, around a buried wisdom tooth, or inside the lower lip. Most are harmless, but one in bone can slowly hollow out the jaw, so it comes out whole and is tested.
How a jaw cyst turns up.
- A routine X-ray shows a dark, rounded area in the jaw that you never felt.
- A soft, bluish blister inside your lower lip keeps filling up and bursting.
- The jaw has a firm swelling, or the teeth near it have begun to shift or tilt.
- An X-ray shows a shadow around a wisdom tooth that never came through.
- The area at the tip of a root-treated tooth is larger on each X-ray.
Cyst removal, step by step.
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01
Finding its edges
Dr. Malik examines the area and takes X-rays to see the size of the cyst and what it sits against. A very large one, or one wrapped around a nerve, may be better treated in hospital, and he tells you if yours is.
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02
Dealing with the cause
A cyst fed by an infected tooth comes back unless the tooth is treated too, so that is planned in: a root canal, root-end surgery or an extraction. A cyst around a buried wisdom tooth usually comes out with the tooth.
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03
Removing it
With the area frozen, the lip or gum is opened, the whole lining of the cyst is lifted out, and the site is stitched. Leaving none of the lining behind is what stops it growing back.
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04
The lab result
What is removed goes to a pathology lab to confirm what it was. Most come back as an ordinary cyst, and you hear the result either way.
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05
Filling back in
Expect a sore, swollen spot for a few days, and soft food while the stitches are in. A cyst in bone leaves a hollow that fills in over the following months, and a later X-ray checks that it has.
Cyst removal and your dental plan.
Removal is usually one visit and a short check afterwards. What it costs depends on how big the cyst is and whether it sits in bone or in the soft tissue, and treating the tooth behind it is priced on its own. Most dental plans cover part of it as oral surgery.
Ask us what it will costCyst removal, answered.
Is a jaw cyst cancer?
Rarely. Most cysts in the mouth are harmless, but a few growths look like cysts on an X-ray and are not, which is why everything removed is tested.
Can a cyst in the mouth go away by itself?
A lip cyst sometimes settles on its own. One at the tip of an infected root can shrink once the tooth is treated, but most cysts in bone keep growing slowly and are simpler to remove while small.
Will the bone grow back?
Usually yes, on its own, over several months. A graft is considered only when the cyst was large or an implant is planned in the same spot.
How long is recovery after cyst removal?
Most people are back at work the next day after a small one. After a larger cyst in the jaw, plan on a quiet two or three days, with the swelling at its worst on the second.
