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Traditional Tattooing of the Gingiva: An Eritrean Folk Medicine Practice

Traditional Tattooing of the Gingiva: An Eritrean Folk Medicine Practice Abstract To the Editor.— Refugees or immigrants have brought with them not only the diseases endemic to their native countries, but also, partly, their traditional habits and the subsequent consequences. This case describes a 25-year-old Eritrean woman with a relatively unknown pigmentation of the gingiva due to traditional tattooing with soot. Report of a Case.— A 25-year-old woman, who had immigrated to Germany in 1970, was referred to our department in January 1986 for evaluation and therapy of chronic pruritus with atopic dermatitis. She was five months' pregnant. On oral examination, her maxillary facial gingiva showed a bluish-black bilateral coloration extending from the first molar to the first molar region (Fig 1). There were no signs of oral cavity disease; the teeth were in excellent condition (Fig 2). On request, the patient said that, in the province of Eritrea, there is a traditional custom of tattooing the facial upper gingiva of References 1. Dummet CO, Barens GB: Anxieties incidental to normal pigmentations of the oral mucosa . Milit Med 1985;150:80-86. 2. Weathers DR, Fine RM: Amalgam tattoo of oral mucosa . Arch Dermatol 1974;110:727-728.Crossref 3. Mani NJ: Gingival tattoo: A hitherto undescribed mucosal pigmentation . Quint Int 1985;16:157-159. 4. Dummet CO: Oral tissue color changes: I . Quint Int 1979; 10:39-45. 5. Dummet CO, Barens G: Attitudes toward normal pigmentations of the oral tissues . Quint Int 1981;10:1115-1122. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Archives of Dermatology American Medical Association

Traditional Tattooing of the Gingiva: An Eritrean Folk Medicine Practice

Goertz, Johannes; Goos, Manfred
Archives of Dermatology , Volume 124 (7) – Jul 1, 1988
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References (6)

Publisher
American Medical Association
Copyright
Copyright © 1988 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.
ISSN
0003-987X
eISSN
1538-3652
DOI
10.1001/archderm.1988.01670070020011
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Abstract To the Editor.— Refugees or immigrants have brought with them not only the diseases endemic to their native countries, but also, partly, their traditional habits and the subsequent consequences. This case describes a 25-year-old Eritrean woman with a relatively unknown pigmentation of the gingiva due to traditional tattooing with soot. Report of a Case.— A 25-year-old woman, who had immigrated to Germany in 1970, was referred to our department in January 1986 for evaluation and therapy of chronic pruritus with atopic dermatitis. She was five months' pregnant. On oral examination, her maxillary facial gingiva showed a bluish-black bilateral coloration extending from the first molar to the first molar region (Fig 1). There were no signs of oral cavity disease; the teeth were in excellent condition (Fig 2). On request, the patient said that, in the province of Eritrea, there is a traditional custom of tattooing the facial upper gingiva of References 1. Dummet CO, Barens GB: Anxieties incidental to normal pigmentations of the oral mucosa . Milit Med 1985;150:80-86. 2. Weathers DR, Fine RM: Amalgam tattoo of oral mucosa . Arch Dermatol 1974;110:727-728.Crossref 3. Mani NJ: Gingival tattoo: A hitherto undescribed mucosal pigmentation . Quint Int 1985;16:157-159. 4. Dummet CO: Oral tissue color changes: I . Quint Int 1979; 10:39-45. 5. Dummet CO, Barens G: Attitudes toward normal pigmentations of the oral tissues . Quint Int 1981;10:1115-1122.

Journal

Archives of Dermatology – American Medical Association

Published: Jul 1, 1988

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