Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Jan 18:2023:4586923.
doi: 10.1155/2023/4586923. eCollection 2023.

Physiological Gingival Melanin Hyperpigmentation Treatment with Injectable Vitamin C and Scalpel Technique: A Randomised Controlled Clinical Trial

Dhanashree S Chaudhary  1 , Simran R Parwani  1 , Shital Barkhade  1 , Minal Gajbhiye  1 , Rajkumar Parwani  2 , Geetanjali Sikka  3 , Kshipra Kawadkar  1 , Nishita Jaju Soni  1 , Niccolò Giuseppe Armogida  4 , Himanshu Dadlani  5   6 , Gianrico Spagnuolo  4   7
Affiliations

Physiological Gingival Melanin Hyperpigmentation Treatment with Injectable Vitamin C and Scalpel Technique: A Randomised Controlled Clinical Trial

Dhanashree S Chaudhary et al. Int J Dent. .

Abstract

Harmony between facial complexion and gingival health goes hand in hand. Gingival depigmentation is an aesthetic correction of hyperactive melanocytes in gingival tissues that lead to hyperpigmentation. Current study compares depigmentation, pain scores, and itching with scalpel technique and nonsurgical intramucosal Vitamin C injection. 30 individuals in the age range of 18-40 years conscious of dark gums were randomly allocated to test and control group by lottery method. Thorough Phase I therapy was performed one week before the procedure. Area and intensity of depigmentation were evaluated preoperatively and postoperatively; pain score, itching, and repigmentation percentage were the postoperative parameters. After 24 hrs, test group showed significantly lesser VAS score for pain as compared to control group. There was no statistically significant difference in preoperative area of pigmentation between the test and control group (p=0.936). Postoperatively also, there was no statistically significant difference in area of pigmentation between the test and control group (p=0.932). For comparing area of pigmentation, an independent t-test was applied and Mann-Whitney test was used for differentiating the intensity of pigmentation, repigmentation, and VAS score between the groups. The study concluded that Vitamin C mesotherapy and scalpel technique showed comparable results in reduction of areas and intensity of gingival hyperpigmentation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The CONSORT flowchart.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Intraoral marking of gingival hyperpigmentation on cellophane sheet (a); transfer of cellophane sheet on graph paper (b).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Scalpel technique (control group); preoperative view (a), intraoperative view (b), one week postoperative view (c), excised tissue (d), and three months postoperative view (e).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Vitamin C mesotherapy (test group); vitamin C injected with insulin syringe (a), preoperative view (b), intraoperative view (c), one month postoperative view (d), and three months postoperative view (e).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Comparison of intensity of pigmentation (mean gingival pigmentation index [9]) between the test and control group.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Comparison of area of pigmentation (in mm2) between the test and control group.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Mean VAS score for pain.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Narendra S. T., Bhongade M. L., Pavan B. Comparative evaluation of effectiveness of LASER with electrosurgery for the management of gingival hyperpigmentation. Int J Oral Health Med Res . 2017;3:36–39.
    1. Newman M. G., Takei H. H., Klokkevold P. R., Carranza F. A. Carranza’s Clinical Periodontology . Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier; 2006.
    1. Yussif N. M., Abdel Rahman A. R., Elbarbary A. Minimally invasive non-surgical locally injected vitamin C versus the conventional surgical depigmentation in treatment of gingival hyperpigmentation of the anterior esthetic zone: a prospective comparative study. Clinical Nutrition Experimental . 2019;24:54–65. doi: 10.1016/j.yclnex.2018.12.003. - DOI
    1. Thomas A. J., Erickson C. A. The making of a melanocyte: the specification of melanoblasts from the neural crest. Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research . 2008;21(6):598–610. doi: 10.1111/j.1755-148x.2008.00506.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Feller L., Masilana A., Khammissa R. A., Altini M., Jadwat Y., Lemmer J. Melanin: the biophysiology of oral melanocytes and physiological oral pigmentation. Head & Face Medicine . 2014;10(1):8–7. doi: 10.1186/1746-160x-10-8. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources