Gingival melanin depigmentation by 810 nm diode laser

ABSTRACT

The color of gingiva is determined by number and size of blood vessels, thickness of epithelium, keratinization degree, and melanin pigments present in epithelium. Melanocytes, located in basal and suprabasal layers of epithelium, are the cells that produce melanin pigments which play a main role for pigmentation of gingiva. In this case series, the use of 810 nm diode laser for depigmentation of gingiva is presented. Two female patients applied with a chief complaint of “darkened gums” due to heavy smoking. In intraoral examination, diffuse melanin pigmentation was observed in both the maxilla and mandible. Under the local anesthesia, 810 nm diode laser was applied for depigmentation at 1.3 W power in continuous mode. Patients were recalled at weeks 1, 4, and 12 to evaluate the healing and recurrence rate. Both the patients had no postoperative pain or edema, and complete healing was observed at week 12. This study revealed that depigmentation with 810 nm diode laser is successful in terms of esthetics and patient comfort.

Key words:

Depigmentation - diode laser - gingiva - melanin

• REFERENCES

• 1 Dummett CO. Normal and locally induced oral pigmentations. Int Dent J 1976; 26: 152-6
• 2 Houshmand B, Janbakhsh N, Khalilian F, Talebi Ardakani MR. Efficacy of conventional laser irradiation versus a new method for gingival depigmentation (Sieve method): A clinical trial. J Lasers Med Sci 2017; 8: 88-94
• 3 Bakutra G, Shankarapillai R, Mathur L, Manohar B. Comparative evaluation of diode laser ablation and surgical stripping technique for gingival depigmentation: A clinical and immunohistochemical study. Int J Health Sci (Qassim) 2017; 11: 51-8
• 4 Kathariya R, Pradeep AR. Split mouth de-epithelization techniques for gingival depigmentation: A case series and review of literature. J Indian Soc Periodontol 2011; 15: 161-8
• 5 Kher U, Khan Z. Gingival depigmentation using the diode laser: Three case reports. Int J Laser Dent 2012; 2: 78-83
• 6 Anoop S, Abraham S, Ambili R, Mathew N. Comparative evaluation of gingival depigmentation using scalpel and diode laser with 1 year follow-up. Int J Laser Dent 2012; 2: 87-91
• 7 Dummet CO. Physiologic pigmentation of the oral and cutaneous tissues in the negro. J Dent Res 1946; 25: 421-32
• 8 Feller L, Masilana A, Khammissa RA, Altini M, Jadwat Y, Lemmer J. et al. Melanin: The biophysiology of oral melanocytes and physiological oral pigmentation. Head Face Med 2014; 10: 8
• 9 Murthy MB, Kaur J, Das R. Treatment of gingival hyperpigmentation with rotary abrasive, scalpel, and laser techniques: A case series. J Indian Soc Periodontol 2012; 16: 614-9
• 10 Atsawasuwan P, Greethong K, Nimmanon V. Treatment of gingival hyperpigmentation for esthetic purposes by nd: YAG laser: Report of 4 cases. J Periodontol 2000; 71: 315-21
• 11 Shah C, Dave R, Shah M, Dave D. Evaluation of scalpel versus diode laser for gingival depigmentation: A case report. Int J Adv Health Sci 2014; 1: 24-7
• 12 Pavlic V, Brkic Z, Marin S, Cicmil S, Gojkov-Vukelic M, Aoki A. et al. Gingival melanin depigmentation by er: YAG laser: A literature review. J Cosmet Laser Ther 2017; 6: 1-6
• 13 Kanakamedala AK, Geetha A, Ramakrishnan T, Emadi P. Management of gingival hyperpigmentation by the surgical scalpel technique-report of three cases. J Clin Diagn Res 2010; 14: 2341-6
• 14 El Shenawy HM, Nasry SA, Zaky AA, Quriba MA. Treatment of gingival by diode laser for esthetical purposes. Maced J Med Sci 2015; 3: 447-54
• 15 Suragimath G, Lohana MH, Varma S. A split mouth randomized clinical comparative study to evaluate the efficacy of gingival depigmentation procedure using conventional scalpel technique or diode laser. J Lasers Med Sci 2016; 7: 227-32
• 16 Gupta G, Kumar A, Khatri M, Puri K, Jain D, Bansal M. et al. Comparison of two different depigmentation techniques for treatment of hyperpigmented gingiva. J Indian Soc Periodontol 2014; 18: 705-9
• 17 Perlmutter S, Tal H. Repigmentation of the gingiva following surgical injury. J Periodontol 1986; 57: 48-50
• 18 Hegde R, Padhye A, Sumanth S, Jain AS, Thukral N. Comparison of surgical stripping; erbium-doped: yttrium, aluminum, and garnet laser; and carbon dioxide laser techniques for gingival depigmentation: A clinical and histologic study. J Periodontol 2013; 84: 738-48