Abstract
Primary intraoral malignant melanoma is a rare but aggressive neoplasm. Oral melanomas represent 1-2% of all oral malignancies. In contrast to cutaneous melanoma, oral melanoma is usually asymptomatic, invades and spreads readily, and shows marked propensity for metastasis. Prognosis is thus typically very poor. Although the tumor can present at any location in the oral cavity, the maxillary gingiva and palate are frequent sites for this neoplasm. A rare case of primary intraoral malignant melanoma in a 40-year-old man involving the mandibular gingiva and alveolar mucosa is presented along with a brief review of literature. The case is unusual in that multiple sites of the gingiva and oral mucosa were involved.
