More often we will hear people talk about nice white set of teeth than pink set of gum. Words like pearlie white, sparkling white teeth are often associated with a nice colour for the teeth. There is less attention to the colour of the gum. To be exact, the occurrence of “dark gum” or “black gum” is seen less than yellow teeth. However, for those with “dark gum”, it may bother them but treatment for it can be hard to find.
The colour of the gum is contributed from cells like melanin, carotene and haemoglobin. All of us have some degree of pigments on the gum, unless one is born congenitally without pigment. However, typically 2 main groups may find themselves having “darker gum”
Habits like smoking may contribute to the “dark gum” condition.
Some ethnic groups like Asian, African and Mediterranean populations may have higher pigment activity which result in darker appearance of the gum.
Often, “dark gum” is only a variety of gum colour and not pathological, so no treatment is needed. Occasionally “dark gum” may be caused by endocrine disease, heavy metals, medication, inflammation and cancer. If there is no pathology that causes “dark gum”, treatment is only needed if it bothers the individual.
Roshni and Nandakumar in 2005 classified the treatment for “dark gum” into 9 treatments methods including treatment like scalpel, radiosurgery, gum graft and laser to name a few.
Personally, I have been using laser for removal of the pigment on the gum for individuals who are bothered by the “dark gum”. According to research, laser has been recognised as one of the effective, pleasant and reliable technique [1]
In one of my lectures to fellow dentists titled “Shades of White”, where the main focus was on teeth whitening and removing white and brown stain on teeth, I also shared a case on using laser for the management of laser gum depigmentation to achieve a lighter toned pinkish appearance on the gum. The reason for sharing that was to create awareness to fellow dentists that “dark gum” can be addressed if it bothers the individual.
[1] M. Prabhuji, S. Madhupreetha, V. ArchanaTreatment of gingival hyperpigmentation for aesthetic purposes using the diode laser Laser, 2 (2011), pp. 18-191