Keywords
gingival pigmentation
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.
References
Newman MG, Takei H, Klokkevold PR, Carranza FA. Newman and Carranza's Clinical Periodontology E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences; 2018 May 29.
Dummett CO. Physiologic pigmentation of the oral and cutaneous tissues in the negro. J Dent Res. 1946;25(6):421-32.
Ponnaiyan D, Gomathy L, Anusha JA. The correlation of skin colour and gingival pigmentation patterns in a group of south indians in tamil nadu, india. SRM J Res Dent Sci. 2013;4(2):54-8.
Rouck DT, Eghbali R, Collys K, De Bruyn H, Cosyn J. The gingival biotype revisited: transparency of the periodontal probe through gingival margin as a method to discriminate thin from thick gingival. J Clin Periodontol. 2009;36:428-33.
Fitzpatrick TB. The validity and practicality of sun-reactive skin types I through VI. Arch Dermatol. 1988;124(6):869-71.
Balaji VR, Manikandan D, Ramsundar A. Prevalence of gingival pigmentation among a diverse population of madurai–A clinical study. World J Adv Sci Res. 2019;2(1):199-208.
Rakhewar PS, Patil HP, Thorat M. Identification of gingival pigmentation patterns and its correlation with skin colour, gender and gingival phenotype in an indian population. Indian J Multidiscip Dent. 2016;6:87-92
Gorsky M, Buchner A, Fundoianu-Dayan D, Aviv I. Physiologic pigmentation of the gingiva in israeli jews of different ethnic origin. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol. 1984; 58:506-9.
Van Wyk CW. Mouth pigmentation patterns in a group of health south african bantu. S Afr Med J. 1970;44(7):177-80.
Bharamappa R, Laxman VK. Comparative assessment of gingival thickness in pigmented and nonpigmented gingiva. J Int Clin Dent Res Organ. 2013;5(1):19-23.
Steigmann S. The relationship between physiologic pigmentation of the skin and oral mucosa in yemenite jews. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol. 1965;19(1):32-8.
Edwards EA, Duntley SQ. The pigments and colour of living human skin. Am J Anat. 1939;65(1):1-33.
Cicek Y, Ertas U. The normal and pathologic pigmentation of oral mucous membrane: a review. J Contemp Dent Pract. 2003;3:76-86.
Gaeta GM, Satriano RA, Baroni A. Oral pigmented lesions. Clin Dermatol. 2002;20:286-8.
Powers JM, Capp JA, Koran A. Colour of gingival tissues of blacks and whites. J Dent Res. 1977;56(2):112-6.
Ghani B, Jouhar R, Ahmed N. Relationship of facial skin complexion with gingiva and tooth shade on smile attractiveness. J Interdiscipl Med Dent Sci. 2016;4(205):2-8.