Smoker's melanosis. Report of a case.

Melanin pigmentation of the oral cavity among tobacco smokers, "smoker's melanosis", was first described by Hedin in 1977. Studies performed on dark skinned ethnic groups found that although nearly all non-tobacco users had oral melanin pigmentation; tobacco smokers had significantly more oral surfaces pigmented than non-tobacco users. We present a case of oral smokers melanosis involving the tongue of a 37-year-old black female.