Evaluation of the prevalence of oral pigmentation in patients referred to Urmia dental faculty in 2017

Oral mucosa has a pink color in healthy people and can vary from light to dark. Gingiva may get discolored due to internal and external causes. One of the causative factors is melanin pigmentation. Melanin is brownish pigment that is not derived from hemoglobin, and accounts for some of the natural discoloration and pigmentation of gingiva and other mucosal layers of oral cavity. This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in Oral Diseases Ward of Urmia Dentistry School since May 2016 to May 2017. In this study, 476 patients underwent procedures and were evaluated in a randomized manner. In this study, 476 patients were studied and among them, 133 ones (27.94%) had mucosal pigmentation. Considering the severity of pigmentation; 73 patients (54.9%) had mild pigmentation, 22 (16.5%) had moderate pigmentation, and 38 (28.6%) had severe pigmentation. There was a significant correlation between oral pigmentation and gender (p=0.036) and the age of patients (p=0.001). Mucosal pigmentation in Azerbaijan and exclusively Urmia city has concordance with the patterns across the country and has a significant association with patients’ gender and age. In this way pigmentation is seen more frequently in male patients with lower age.