Odontogenic lesions

Diagnosis

Odontogenic lesions are often first noticed by your dentist. An oral and maxillofacial surgeon will usually oversee your care at Mayo. He or she will ask about past symptoms and examine the lesion and your entire head and neck region.

To determine the type of lesion, your doctor may remove a small piece of the lesion (biopsy) to view under a microscope. You'll be under local anesthesia for this procedure. Your doctor will also likely order one or more imaging tests, such as:

• X-ray
• Computerized tomography (CT) scan
• Dental cone beam CT scan, a special type of CT scan that provides 3-D images of the bones, teeth, soft tissues and nerves in your mouth
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

Read more about X-ray, CT scan and MRI.