Successful Treatment of Cosmetic Oral Mucosal Tattoos Using QS 694-nm Ruby Laser and 755-nm Alexandrite Picosecond Laser.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Q-switched (QS) and picosecond lasers can effectively and safely remove unwanted tattoo pigments. Cosmetic mucosal tattoos are rare and there are only a handful of cases of successful laser tattoo removal, all with QS 1064-nm neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) laser.

STUDY DESIGN/MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 19-year-old Fitzpatrick skin-type II female presented for treatment of a 6-month-old, black tattoo on the mucosal surface of her lower lip. She underwent six treatment sessions with a QS 694-nm ruby laser on months 0, 1, 3, 5, 7, and 12. A 30-year-old Fitzpatrick skin-type IV male presented for treatment of a 10-year-old black tattoo on his left buccal mucosa. He underwent one treatment with 755-nm alexandrite picosecond lasers.

RESULTS: One month after last treatment, both patients demonstrated marked improvement to the treatment area without scarring or dyspigmentation.

CONCLUSIONS: Given the excellent results seen in the patients presented here, the authors recommend that lasers should be the first-line treatment for the removal of unwanted cosmetic mucosal tattoos, which are typically easier to remove than cutaneous tattoos and can be accomplished with various wavelengths in the picosecond and nanosecond domains. Lasers Surg. Med. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.