Dental tattoos are custom designs which are added to dental crowns before the crowns are sealed and set in the mouth. The term dental tattoos can also sometimes be used to describe temporary decals and stains which can be used to decorate the teeth. In the case of crowns, dental tattoos are most commonly seen on the rear teeth, but they can potentially be applied to any tooth, and they run possibility of wide gamut of styles, colors, and designs.

Dental tattoos prove that apparently skin is not the only place that can be decorated with a tattoo. Dental tattoos form the latest trend in India. Using “tattoo” to describe these ornamental designs is a bit of a misnomer, as a tattoo is, by definition, a pigment mark made by piercing the skin. In the case of dental tattoos, the teeth are not actually pierced or even touched with a needle, and the material which covers teeth is enamel, not skin. However, the end result is much the same, especially in the case of an artfully produced dental tattoo.

Dental tattoos are usually applied by the dental lab which makes the crowns. After a dentist takes a mold and confirms that it is correctly sized for the tooth, they send it to a lab to be manufactured into a crown, or produce the crowns in-house, depending on personal preference. If the customer wants a dental tattoo, the mold may be sent to a lab which specializes in such things, and a skilled artist typically does the tattoo work, carefully painting a miniature design onto the tooth before it is sealed. Because in case of dental tattoos the work is sealed in, clients going in for the dental tattoos generally do not have to take any special steps to maintain them, beyond the normal hygiene.