Fibroma removal

A 58-year-old Caucasian female presented with a fibroma (2 mm x 3 mm) lower left lip at the vermilion border. Duration of the lesion was approximately four months (Figure 1). After injection of local anesthesia — 1.0 ml of 2 percent lidocaine (Septocaine, 1:100,000) — into the surrounding tissue, avoiding the fibroma, a diode laser at a setting of up to 2.00 watts starting at 1.00 watt in continuous mode was utilized. Postoperative instructions were provided. Packing and suturing were not used. Figure 2 — two months postoperative visit — demonstrates postoperative healing of the site with little or no evidence of prior surgery.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Written by Lori Trost, DMD and Karen Kaiser, RDH