Oral mucosal tattoo induced by endodontic sealers

The aim of this study was to analyze oral mucosal tattoo induced by the submucous injection of two different root canal sealers: N-Rickert, containing silver and Rickert-SP, not containing silver. Forty rabbits were used in this study, being sacrificed at intervals of 30, 90, 150, 210 and 270 days and submitted to clinical and histological analyses. The results were as follows: during the first 30 days, none of the sealers induced pigmentation. N-Rickert induced pigmentation in all animals after 90 days of observation, while Rickert-SP did not produce any tattoo in all groups observed. On the other hand, Rickert-SP sealer showed to be a lot more irritating to the tissues than N-Rickert (AU)