Abstract
Excessive gingival pigmentation could be of either physiological or pathological nature, due to endogenous or exogenous causes. Cigarette smoke consumption is one of the exogenous factors widely recognized as a strong contributor to melanosis. The present article reviews the results of a literature search on the relationship between passive smoking and increased gingival pigmentation. PubMed database was used for article selection. A detailed screening showed a total of 7 studies describing the prevalence and degree of association between passive smoking and gingival pigmentation. Out of the 7 articles, 6 (approximate to 86 %) of them described the prevalence in children and young adults living with an active smoker parent. One study involved preschool children in New Zealand, while all other investigations included samples from Asian populations (India, Iran, and Japan). Most of the published literature indicated a strong correlation between passive smoking and gingival pigmentation, evidencing a direct effect.