Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2010 Jul;1(3):204-6.
doi: 10.4103/0976-237X.73205.

Extensive physiologic melanin pigmentation on the tongue: An unusual clinical presentation

Sunira Chandra  1 , Vaishali Keluskar, Anjana Bagewadi, Kunal Sah
Affiliations
Case Reports

Extensive physiologic melanin pigmentation on the tongue: An unusual clinical presentation

Sunira Chandra et al. Contemp Clin Dent. 2010 Jul.

Abstract

Pigmented lesions are commonly found in the oral cavity. Pigmentation has a multifactorial etiology. Most of the oral pigmentations are physiologic but sometimes it can be a precursor of severe diseases. Evaluation of a patient presented with a pigmented lesion should include a full medical and dental history, extraoral and intraoral examinations and even in some cases biopsy and laboratory investigations are required. In this article, we report a case of extensive physiologic pigmentation on the tongue in a 32-year-old female patient, posing a diagnostic challenge.

Keywords: Melanin; physiologic; pigmentation; tongue.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Clinical view of the patient showing extensive melanin pigmentation on the dorsal surface of tongue
Figure 2
Figure 2
Clinical view of the patient showing extensive melanin pigmentation on the ventral surface of tongue
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Eisen D. Disorders of pigmentation in the oral cavity. Clin Dermatol. 2000;18:579–87. - PubMed
    1. Lenane P, Powell FC. Oral pigmentation. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2000;14:448–65. - PubMed
    1. Kauzman A, Pavone M, Blanas N, Bradley G. Pigmented lesions of the oral cavity: Review, differential diagnosis, and case presentation. J Can Dent Assoc. 2004;70:682–3. - PubMed
    1. Çiçek Y, Ertaş ü. The normal and pathological pigmentation of oral mucous membrane: A review. J Contemp Dent Pract. 2003;3:76–86. - PubMed
    1. Gaeta GM, Satriano RA, Baroni A. Oral pigmented lesions. Clin Dermatol. 2002;20:286–8. - PubMed

Publication types