Brooks John K, Reynolds Mark A
Department of Diagnostic Sciences and Pathology, Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, Dental School, University of Maryland, Baltimore, 650 W. Baltimore St., Baltimore, MD 21201-1586, USA.
J Am Dent Assoc. 2007 Aug;138(8):1097-101. doi: 10.14219/jada.archive.2007.0322.
Traditional gingival tattooing, practiced in Ethiopia and occasionally in other African and Middle Eastern nations, is performed for esthetic appeal or superstition, and it occasionally may be used as a homeopathic remedy for dental diseases. The authors provide a literature review and case report of this oral custom.
A 54-year-old woman from Ethiopia reported that she had undergone tattooing of the maxillary gingiva six years previously for analgesic management of undisclosed oral disease. The gingiva was pierced with a needle, tipped with lantern soot and resin from the plant Datura stramonium (an herb that possesses potent anticholinergic tropane alkaloids and has demonstrated in vitro antimicrobial activity). However, the patient admitted that this procedure had provided no reduction in the pain. Clinical examination was significant for a pronounced blue pigmentation of the maxillary gingiva, generalized mild periodontitis and several carious lesions.
Practitioners should ascertain whether gingival tattooing had been performed when patients manifest unusual oral pigmentation and be aware of its use in folk medicine for various oral conditions.
传统牙龈纹身术在埃塞俄比亚较为常见，在其他一些非洲和中东国家偶尔也有施行，其施行目的在于美观或迷信，偶尔也会被用作治疗牙齿疾病的顺势疗法。作者提供了关于这种口腔习俗的文献综述及病例报告。
一名来自埃塞俄比亚的54岁女性报告称，她在六年前因未公开的口腔疾病进行止痛治疗而接受了上颌牙龈纹身。牙龈用一根蘸有灯笼烟灰和曼陀罗（一种含有强效抗胆碱能托烷生物碱且已证明具有体外抗菌活性的草药）树脂的针穿刺。然而，患者承认该操作并未减轻疼痛。临床检查发现上颌牙龈有明显的蓝色色素沉着、广泛性轻度牙周炎和多处龋损。
当患者出现异常口腔色素沉着时，从业者应确定其是否进行过牙龈纹身，并了解其在民间医学中用于各种口腔疾病的情况。
