A Color Analysis of Smoker’s Melanosis Using a Non-Contact Type Dental Spectrophotometer

The pigmentation of human gingival tissue is derived from melanin granules, which are synthesized in the melanosomes of melanocytes [1,2]. The nicotine present in tobacco activates melanocytes to promote melanin secretion [3]. Therefore, the melanin pigmentation in gingival tissues has a strong correlation with smoking [4,5]. In 1977, Hedin et al. [5] first reported that smokers showed more pigmented gingiva than non-smokers. The authors named this gingival pigmentation “smoker’s melanosis.” Gingival pigmentation related to smoking is often observed in the labial area of the lower medial canine. A previous study also suggested that the severity of gingival pigmentation decreases after smoking cessation, in relation to the number of years after the discontinuation of smoking [3]. These findings indicate that there is a bidirectional association between tobacco smoking and melanin pigmentation in the gingiva and suggest the possibility that a normal gingival pigmentation may be recovered following smoking cessation.