Heavy Metal Pigmentation
- Etiology: Occurs with exposure to various types of heavy metal such as arsenic, bismuth, platinum, lead, sliver, copper, and mercury. Can cause pigmented lesions in the soft tissues.
- Method of Transmission: Not applicable
- Characteristics: Rarely seen because of safety precautions taking in the workplace and at home. Subjection to the metals through excessive ingestions, inhalation, or prolonged cutaneous expose may result in pigmentation accumulating in the oral mucosa.
- Dental Implications: Rarely seen because of safety practices.
- Treatment and Prognosis: Blood tests are always needed to determine the extend of the heavy metal accumulation in the body, and other procedures are needed to determine the amount of physical damage that the metals may have caused.
- Citation: Delong, Burkhart textbook, pg 359