Pigmented lesion of the oral cavity with eight years follow-up

A 27 year old white female with a pigmented lesion on the anterior portion of the mandibular gingival is described. A prophylactic excisional biopsy was performed in conjunction with a gingival graft. A gingival graft was performed to accelerate the healing process and reduce post operative discomfort. An intradermal nevus was diagnosed. The number of documented oral nevi in the literature now exceeds 200 and approximately half of them are histologically of the intradermal type. If early detection of thin oral melanomas is to be achieved, all pigmented oral cavity lesions should be viewed with suspicion.