MANAGEMENT OF GINGIVAL VITILIGO WITH THE USE OF A TATTOO TECHNIQUE

THE PURPOSE OF THIS REPORT is to describe the management of gingival v itiligo in a black female. This patient was referred by her psychiatri st to the Mount Sinai Hospital Dental Department (Toronto) for assessm ent of progressive loss in gingival pigmentation. According to her psy chiatrist this loss of pigmentation, which the patient indicated may b e considered in Africa as a hallmark of HIV infection, was a significa nt exogenous factor in relation to the patient's ongoing clinical depr ession. After obtaining informed consent, a modification of a tattooin g method used for skin was applied to the patient's attached gingival tissues. Test sites were tattooed prior to performing full gingival ta ttooing under local anaesthesia. The results demonstrate that it was p ossible to restore this patient's gingival pigmentation in a highly es thetically acceptable manner. The resulting coloration was reminiscent of the patient's natural pigmentation that had been lost ostensibly b ecause of her systemic disorder. Our findings also showed that the art ificial pigmentation established via the tattoo method was stable 4 mo nths postoperatively and continues to be stable, as expected. A profou nd improvement in the patient's mood was noted.