Management of Consequences of Gold Enamel Tattooing in Maxillary Central Incisors: A Case Report

Abstract

Gold enamel tattooing is a customary practice seen in various clans of Asia and the Indian subcontinent, for ages. The incidence of such cases is very low; hence they can be used as identification marks in forensic sciences and symbols of some tribes and clans. In India, these tattoos or chomps are frequently done by amateurish creatures, making gross harm to the physiology of the tooth and causing consequences like pulp involvement and periapical infection. Here, authors presents a case of 32-year-old male presented with chief complaint of dull, intermittent pain which aggravates with hot stimulus, particularly on taking hot tea and broken upper front teeth because of biting on a hard nut five days back. Patient also complaint of pus discharge over his front teeth for three days. The patient gave the history of gold inking his two maxillary central incisors, ten years back. Pulp damage and periapical lesion was noticed due to enamel inking in upper central incisors. A periapical abscess was resulted due to violation of enamel thickness of the tooth during tooth preparation. In dental clinics, traditional gold tattoos can be done with minimal invasive cavity preparation. Enamel thickness estimation in such cases plays a very important role to safeguard a healthy tooth from the consequences of structural damage.

Keywords

• dental pulp
• enamel chomps
• enamel thickness
• periapical abscess
• quackery