Oral, Head & Neck Pathology

Unfortunately there are a wide variety of pathological conditions that affect the head and neck. Often patients are sent to Winchester Oral Surgery Center from a primary referrer, usually a family doctor or dentist that has seen something that is “not quite normal”. It then falls upon Dr. Coviello and Dr. Starley to diagnose the specific condition, and most importantly, comfort and calm the nervous patient.

Diagnosing the Condition

When a patient comes in for a diagnosis they will go through a combination of an expert clinical exam, radiologic imaging, and in some cases biopsy. An oral biopsy may be performed under local anesthesia or intravenous sedation, often on the same day as the evaluation. The resultant biopsy is sent to a pathologist for microscopic evaluation and definitive diagnosis.

Treatment & Surgery

Most pathologic conditions of the head and neck can be definitively treated by Drs. Coviello and Starley. They trained under the world-renowned Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology expert, Dr Robert Marx, at the University of Miami Medical School. He is the author of the award-winning surgical oral pathology textbook that most advanced practitioners all over the world refer to for treatment advice. If a condition is serious enough, the surgery may be comfortably performed at Winchester Medical Center on an outpatient or inpatient basis. However, the vast majority of lesions are easily treated at their state-of-the-art facility under local anesthesia or intravenous sedation. Dr. Coviello is credentialed in the use of CO2 lasers, and this is often the treatment of choice for intraoral, non-cancerous lesions.

Pathology Reports

Most of the time, the lesion removed will be mailed to a pathologist to review. The pathologist will send back a formal report that tells us what the removed tissue actually turned out to be. Results will be reviewed when you return for your follow up. The pathology lab is a separate facility from our office. All billing questions regarding their services should be directed toward them.

Click this link for post-op care for a biopsy.