Gum de-Pigmentation

Overview

Gum pigmentation is not any disease or dysfunction of the gum. The reasons are genetics and excess melanin build up in your gum. The condition is common in many ethnic groups like Middle Eastern and African ancestry. There are some reasons for dark gums like side effects of certain medications, smoking and effect of amalgam fillings in the gum area.

Gum de-pigmentation, also called gum bleaching, is a cosmetic dentistry procedure that helps remove patches or dark spots from the gum. The surgical procedures involved are laser ablation techniques and other surgical procedures.

The longevity of gum de-pigmentation procedure lasts up to 20 years or even a lifetime. If pigmentation still remains in certain areas after the procedure, your dentist will go over those areas once again and re-apply de-pigmentation.

To be a suitable candidate for gum de-pigmentation, you need to have healthy gum and good oral health. If dark gums are caused due to periodontal disease, avoid the procedure. Patients taking blood thinners should avoid undergoing the surgery since that can cause excessive bleeding. Also, patients with prominent tooth roots and thin gum tissues may experience high sensitivity if accidentally the roots get exposed by gum tissues.

Before de-pigmentation procedure, you need to take care of a few preparations:

Before the Treatment

• Fix an appointment with your dentist. He examines your teeth and the gum to make sure that you have good oral hygiene and health.
• He assesses if you have any kind of gum diseases caused by periodontal disease. Also, the patient has to inform the doctor regarding the types of medicine he/she is taking like blood thinners and any type of antibiotics.
• After evaluating everything, your doctor decides whether gum bleaching is right for you. For patients having blood thinners should avoid the surgery since it leads to a lot of gum bleeding during the procedure.
• If your gum tissues have high sensitivity then that should be treated by your doctor first. This refers to cavities, gum diseases are other issues that are addressed before the procedure.

How it is performed

The entire gum de-pigmentation procedure takes 20-45 minutes, depending upon the size and colour of the dark patch created on the gum. Before the procedure starts, local anaesthesia is given to numb the gum area.

• The doctor shines laser gum de-pigmentation rays on the top thin layer of your gum tissues and destroys those cells responsible for melanin production.
• Laser rays help to blast away all dark spots and patches on the gum region.
• A person may have to undergo various seating sessions to attain the desired results of lightening.
• During the healing time, new tissues build up which are pink rather than brown.

Recovery

After gum de-pigmentation procedure, it takes some time for the patient to recover. Immediately after the surgery, the patient may feel certain degree of sensitivity and pain in the gums. However, the pain is best addressed by over-the-counter medicines. The best part is that the recovery time of gum de-pigmentation takes only a few days with little discomfort.