title: Oral amalgam pigmentations (tattoos): a retrospective study.
abstract: Oral amalgam tattoos are typically asymptomatic, benign, solitary or multiple clinical lesions produced by inadvertent placement of dental silver amalgam restorative material into the oral soft tissues. Diffuse lesions often display a grayish brown discoloration while other tattoos present a darker blue-black contrast. One hundred sixty-eight biopsy reports that confirmed the diagnosis of amalgam tattoo were analyzed to find age, sex, and race of the patients and size, location, and duration of occurrence of the lesions. Among the 168 cases, 235 individual tissue specimens were identified. A majority of the specimens were taken from the buccal mucosa, gingiva, and alveolar mucosa. The most common site for the lesion was the mandibular arch. The size of the individual specimens ranged from 0.10 cm to 1.50 cm. Almost two thirds of the specimens were 0.40 cm or less.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Dentistry, University of Tennessee, College of Dentistry, Memphis 38163.
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Owens
authors.forename: W W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Schuman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D003723:Dental Amalgam / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D005882:Gingival Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000473:pathology*; D010859:Pigmentation Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012744:Sex Ratio
chemical_list: D003723:Dental Amalgam