Rare phenomena of tacrolimus-induced gingival hyperplasia

In the modern world, men and women are very much concerned about their esthetic appearance. The gingival perspective of esthetics is more often concerned with the soft tissue envelope surrounding the teeth. Gingival enlargement/overgrowth is numerous in nature and often poses a clinical challenge by altering the function, resulting in poor oral health of an individual. Tacrolimus, an immunosuppressive drug, has been broadly used for organ-transplant rejection. It results in much less severe hypertension, hypertrichosis and gingival overgrowth compared to cyclosporine and calcium channel blocker-induced gingival enlargements. However, there is scanty literature available regarding the tacrolimus-induced gingival enlargements. Therefore, the present case report with a 6-month follow-up period describes the execution of the proper treatment plan and surgical protocol for the management of a severe case of generalized gingival enlargement attributed to tacrolimus-induced therapy following renal transplant.