Frequency of oral mucosal pigmentation among patients referred to the faculty of dentistry, Guilan University of Medical Sciences

Frequency of oral mucosal pigmentation among patients referred to the faculty of dentistry, Guilan University of Medical Sciences Dr. M. Rabiei* - Dr. R. Nasrin***-Assistant Professor of Oral Diseases and Diagnosis Dept. – Faculty of Dentistry – Guilan University of Medical Sciences. **- Dentist. Background and Aim: Frequency of pigmentation is different among various ethnic groups. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of oral mucosal pigmentation and to find out the probable relationship between smoking and oral melanin pigmentation in patients referred to the faculty of dentistry, Guilan University of Medical Sciences. Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross – sectional study was performed on 230 patients referred to the department of oral disease, Guilan Dental Faculty, based on simple random sampling in 2003. Demographic data along with information about patients' smoking habits were recorded. All patients were examined clinically by an oral diseases specialist. Lesions were classified in three grades of mild, moderate and severe. data were subjected to SPSS 10 software and Chi – Square test. Results: In the studied population, 100 subjects (43.47%) had oral pigmentation, 26 of them had smoking habits. The common pigmentation sites were anterior maxillary and mandibualr attached gingival. Severe form of pigmentation was significantly higher in patients with smoking habits (P<0.05). Significant relationship was found between skin color and oral mucosal pigmentation (P<0.05). Conclusion: The present study showed that comparing to other parts of the world, the degree of pigmentation was moderate this value was higher than European but lower than East Asian populations. In this study, smoking could only changes the severity of pigmentation. Key words: Pigment oral mucosa – Pigmentation disorders