title: Treatment of amalgam tattoo with an Er,Cr:YSGG laser.
abstract: Amalgam tattoos are common, asymptomatic, pigmented oral lesions that clinically exist as isolated, blue, gray, or black macules on the gingival, buccal, and alveolar mucosae, the palate, and/or the tongue. In this case report, the successful use of an erbium, chromium-doped:yttrium, scandium, gallium, and garnet laser for the removal of an amalgam tattoo is explained. A 46-year-old man is presented with a half decade history of an amalgam tattoo on his left maxillary premolar-molar gingiva. Depigmentation procedure was performed under topical anesthesia with the use of an erbium, chromium-doped:yttrium, scandium, gallium, and garnet laser at 2 W in the soft tissue pulsed mode for 10 min. The pigmented tissue was completely removed. The de-epithelialization area healed completely on the 10th day after treatment. The period of healing was uneventful. The amalgam tattoo was completely removed with erbium, chromium-doped:yttrium, scandium, gallium, and garnet laser, and the treated area healed without any adverse effect.
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, Faculty of Dentistry, Near East University, Mersin 10, Turkey.  guneyyilmaz@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Hasan Guney
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Yilmaz
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bayindir
authors.forename: Basak
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kusakci-Seker
authors.forename: Simge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tasar
authors.forename: Sevcan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kurtulmus-Yilmaz
mesh_terms: D003723:Dental Amalgam / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005882:Gingival Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D053844:Lasers, Solid-State / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010859:Pigmentation Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000601:surgery*; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D003723:Dental Amalgam
keywords: amalgam tattoo; case report; de-epithelialization; depigmentation; laser