08 August 2025

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Management of pigmented gingiva in child patient: a new era to the pediatric dentistry

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Gingival health in the form of size, shape, consistency and appearance are essential components responsible for an attractive smile as well as may cause unpleasant appearance. Melanin pigmentation often occurs in the gingiva as a result of an abnormal deposition of melanin which can compromise the confidence level from the age of childhood.

The present article describes and discusses the two cases of gingival melanin pigmentation in 12 and 13 years of female patient and their early surgical intervention with successful follow-up of 9 and 6 months. Patients were instructed to prevent sun exposure, intake of hot foods or beverages like cold drinks, tea, coffee and brushing immediately after surgery.

Gingival pigmentation occurs as diffuse purplish discoloration or as irregularly shaped brown or light brown patches. This pigmentation may be seen across all the races,at any age and it is without gender predilection. It is more prominent in the black individuals with uneven distribution of the pigmentation in oral cavity occurs as gingiva 60%, hard palate 61%, mucous membrane 22% and tongue 15%.

For depigmentation of gingiva different treatment modalities have been reported like bur abrasion, scraping, partial thickness flap, cryotherapy, electrosurgery and laser but repigmentation of the melanin pigment after surgical procedure is noted and considered in a high percentage.5Different factors as chemical, surgical technique, thermal and idiopathathic factors are responsible for recurrence.5So special precautions should be taken to delay the chances of recurrence after surgical intervention of pigmented gingiva.

Authors: Rakesh Namdeoraoji Bahadure, Parul Singh, Eesha Jain, Heena Khurana, Gautam Badole

Source: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/