Prevalence of Gingival Pigmentation and its Association with Gingival Biotype and Skin Colour

Abstract

Introduction: The facial appearance depends on several oral and extraoral factors including colour of facial skin and pigmentation of gingival epithelium. The colour of the gingiva varies among individuals and is thought to be associated with cutaneous pigmentation which ranges from light to dark brown or black colour.
 Objective: To assess the prevalence of physiological gingival pigmentation, gingival biotype and their association with skin colur in Nepalese subjects visiting Kantipur Dental College and Hospital (KDCH).
 Methods: This was an analytical cross-sectional study which was carried out from February 2020 to June 2020 in all patients of age-group 16 to 80 years visiting the Department of Periodontics at KDCH after ethical approval. Patients were recruited by convenience sampling and examined thoroughly to find out gingival biotype and extent of gingival pigmentation intraorally as well as skin colour extraorally.
 Results: In this study, 210 patients were examined among which, 105 (50%) were males and 105 (50%) were females. Out of 210, 33 (15.7%) had pink tissue without pigmentation, 84 (40%) had pigmentation only in attached gingiva, 58 (27.6%) in attached gingiva and interdental papilla, 32 (15.2%) had diffuse pigmentation involving all parts of gingiva, 2 (1%) had in marginal gingiva only, and 1 (0.5%) in marginal gingiva and interdental papilla.
 Conclusion: A strong association was found between gingival pigmentation and facial skin colour in present study (P <0.001). Establishing the pattern of gingival pigmentation in Nepalese population will help to choose a specific depigmentation therapy that will harmonise with skin colour.

Prevalence of Maxillary and Mandibular Frenal Attachment and Its Association with Age, Gender, and Oral Hygiene Status in Nepalese Population Seeking Dental Treatment

“…Furthermore, we observed that gingival recession, thin gingival biotype, and inadequate width of attachment were more pronounced in the mandible [ 33 ]. This could explain the robust link between frenal attachment and oral hygiene status in the mandible.…”

Esthetic Management of Gingival Hyperpigmentation With Electrosurgery Technique: A Case Report

“…4 Gingival hyperpigmentation is more prevalent in attached gingiva as compared to other parts of gingiva. 3,5 Gingival hyperpigmentation is completely physiological problem in most of the cases. But for some individuals, hyperpigmentation is esthetically unpleasant which is more evident in a patient with gummy smile or high smile line while talking or smiling.…”

“…2 Although clinical gingival pigmentation is not a medical problem, hyperpigmented gingiva may cause esthetic problems in patients with a high smile line. 3 To overcome this concern, gingival depigmentation is performed to improve the aesthetic concern of the patient. Treatment plan and selection of technique mainly depend on patient's skin colour, extent of gingival pigmentation, lip line, upper lip curvature, esthetic concern and expectation from the treatment.…”

Evaluation of Width and Thickness of Attached Gingiva and Its Association with Age, Gender and Arch Location in Nepalese Population

“…Similar prevalence of gingival biotype (75.6% thin, 24.6% thick) was obtained in the mandibular arch but higher prevalence (53.2% thin, 46.8% thick) was discovered in the research done byLee et al [16], as compared to the current study. In contrast, Shao et al[41], Shah et al[42]and Rijal et al[43] discovered greater prevalence of thick gingival phenotype. This difference in gingival thickness in different population may be due to racial variation where Asians usually have a thin gingiva as compared to Caucasians [16,41,44,45].The correlation between the mean WAG and TAH was not seen statistically signi cant in the upper arch (p-value = 0.09), lower arch (p-value = 0.65), and overall (both arches, p-value = 0.29).…”