Oral biopsy

Many oral lesions may need to be diagnosed by removing a sample of tissue from the oral cavity. Biopsy is widely used in the medical field, but the practice is not quite widespread in dental practice. As oral pathologists, we have found many artifacts in the tissue specimen because of poor biopsy technique or handling, which has led to diagnostic pitfalls and misery to both the patient and the clinician. This article aims at alerting the clinicians about the clinical faults arising preoperatively, intraoperatively and postoperatively while dealing with oral biopsy that may affect the histological assessment of the tissue and, therefore, the diagnosis. It also reviews the different techniques, precautions and special considerations necessary for specific lesions.