Most salivary gland tumours affect one of the parotid glands, which sit in front of the ears. Surgery to remove part or all of a parotid gland is called a parotidectomy.
The facial nerve runs through the parotid gland. This nerve controls facial expressions and movement of the eyelid and lip. If the facial nerve is damaged during surgery, you may be unable to smile, frown or close your eyes. This is known as facial palsy, and it will usually improve over several months.
In some cases, the facial nerve needs to be cut so the cancer can be removed. This will affect how your face looks and moves. There are various procedures that can help improve this, such as using a nerve from another part of the body (nerve graft).
If the cancer affects a gland under the lower jaw (submandibular gland) or under the tongue (sublingual gland), the gland will be removed, along with some surrounding tissue. Nerves controlling the tongue and lower part of the face may be damaged, which may cause some loss of function (e.g. how you speak, eat or close your mouth).
→ READ MORE: What to expect after surgery
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A/Prof Martin Batstone, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon and Director of the Maxillofacial Unit, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, QLD; Polly Baldwin, 13 11 20 Consultant, Cancer Council SA; Martin Boyle, Consumer; Dr Teresa Brown, Assistant Director Dietetics, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Honorary Associate Professor, University of Queensland, QLD; Dr Hayley Dixon, Head, Clinical Support Dentistry Department, WSLHD Oral Health Services, Public Health Dentistry Specialist, NSW; Head and Neck Cancer Care Nursing Team, Royal Melbourne Hospital, VIC; Rhys Hughes, Senior Speech Pathologist, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, VIC; Dr Annette Lim, Medical Oncologist and Clinician Researcher – Head and Neck and Non-melanoma Skin Cancer, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, VIC; Dr Sweet Ping Ng, Radiation Oncologist, Austin Health, VIC; Deb Pickersgill, Senior Clinical Exercise Physiologist, Queensland Sports Medicine Centre, QLD; John Spurr, Consumer; Kate Woodhead, Physiotherapist, St Vincent’s Health, Melbourne, VIC; A/Prof Sue-Ching Yeoh, Oral Medicine Specialist, University of Sydney, Sydney Oral Medicine, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Chris O’Brien Lifehouse, NSW.
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