Management of Physiological Gingival Pigmentation Using Two Treatment Modalities: Clinical and Patient-Reported...

Physiological gingival pigmentation is considered aesthetically unappealing, and individuals diagnosed with it often want to reduce or remove the pigmentation. There are various techniques for depigmentation, with laser treatment considered the simplest, most reliable and most cost-effective option. This study assessed two different treatments for physiological gingival pigmentation.

A total of 12 patients who had gingival pigmentation were randomly divided into a control group (treated with a bur) and a test group (treated with a laser). The same experienced periodontist performed all the procedures. Patient-reported outcomes of the treatments were obtained through a quality of life questionnaire adapted from Melzack's McGill pain questionnaire, which patients completed one day, one week and four weeks after therapy. Additionally, 15 experienced dentists assessed clinical photographs using a Likert scale to compare the clinical outcomes before and one month after the intervention.

Patients were similarly satisfied with both laser and bur depigmentation treatments (54.17%, mean = 2.71, SD = 0.624; 50.0%, mean = 2.50, SD = 1.034, respectively). The patients' satisfaction results were non-significant (P > 0.05), except in terms of noticing an aesthetic change, which was significant (P < 0.05) in favor of the laser approach. The satisfaction rate was higher for laser treatment (84.44%, mean = 4.21) compared to bur depigmentation (78.67%, mean = 3.93). The results were statistically non-significant (P > 0.05). One month after treatment, four patients from the control group reported that the treatment met their expectations, while one participant said it exceeded expectations.

Within the limitations of this study, the findings suggested that laser treatment was slightly superior to bur treatment for managing gingival pigmentation.