Amalgam tattoo

Dermatol Online J. 2008 May 15;14(5):19.

Abstract

A 53-year-old woman with a history of melanoma status-post excision two years prior presented with a 4-month history of 4, dark-brown macules on the inferior surface of her tongue. A biopsy specimen showed a squamous mucosa with chronic submucosal inflammation and brown pigment. The clinical and histopathologic findings were consistent with a diagnosis of amalgam tattoo. Amalgam tattoos are common, oral pigmented lesions that clinically present as isolated, blue, grey, or black macules on the gingivae, the buccal and alveolar mucosae, the palate, and/or the tongue. They are due to deposition of a mixture of silver, tin, mercury, copper, and zinc, which are components of an amalgam filling, into the oral soft tissues. Amalgam tattoos can either be treated surgically or with a Q-switched ruby laser. In the case of our patient with the history of melanoma, her oral lesions proved not to be the more dire diagnosis of malignant melanoma.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Biopsy
  • Dental Amalgam / adverse effects*
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Female
  • Gingival Diseases / chemically induced
  • Gingival Diseases / pathology*
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Mouth Mucosa / pathology*
  • Pigmentation Disorders / chemically induced
  • Pigmentation Disorders / pathology*

Substances

  • Dental Amalgam