Salivary Gland Surgery

There are three main glands in the mouth that produce saliva: the parotid, submandibular, and sublingual glands. Each of these glands is paired; there is one parotid gland on each side of the head, in front of the ears. The salivary glands can be affected by various diseases, such as

mumps

, and

tumours

can also occur. Most salivary tumours are

benign

(non-cancerous) and slow-growing, but

malignant

(cancerous) tumours also occur. Benign tumours are at risk of changing to malignant ones. Surgery usually removes the tumour and the affected part of the particular saliva gland, or the tumour and entire gland, under

general anaesthetic

.