Physiologic pigmentation of the oral mucosa in Israeli Jews of different ethnic origin.

The prevalence of oral physiologic pigmentation in three ethnic groups of a total of 2465 Israeli Jews was determined, and the relationship of oral pigmentation to age and sex within the groups was noted. Results showed the presence of oral pigmentation in 63.6% of the Eastern group, 54.8% of the Sephardic group, and 24.9% of the Ashkenazi group. No indication was found of sex predilection, and no significant trend was evident in the prevalence of pigmentation with relation to age. The leading site of pigmentation among the entire sample was the gingiva, and this finding did not vary with ethnicity.