Report of a rare and aggressive case of oral malignant melanoma

BACKGROUND: Oral melanoma is a very rare malignancy with unknown etiology. Its higher incidence is between 41 and 60 years of age. A high localization of oral melanoma was found in the maxilla. Gender distribution was reported as 1:1. Oral melanoma represents 0.2% to 8% of the all the total cases of melanoma of the body. CASE REPORT: In this article we report an aggressive case of oral melanoma in a 71-year-old male with chief complaint of black swelling of the gingiva, paresthesia, and denture ill fitting. DISCUSSION: Most oral melanomas are asymptomatic and painless in early stages and unfortunately diagnosis delayed until symptoms occurred. Early detection of suspected melanotic lesions by patient, dentist, and physician is very important.