Ascorbic Acid versus Diode Laser in the Treatment of Gingival Hyperpigmentation: Histological and Clinical Randomized Study

Abstract

Cosmetic dentistry is usually centered on esthetic restorative procedures but it may also involve the appearance of the gingiva, especially when it is located in the anterior labial region. Physiologic gingival hyperpigmentation affects numerous people of different ethnic backgrounds. Gingival depigmentation is a periodontal plastic procedure to reduce or remove melanin gingival hyperpigmentation by different methods. Some methods aimed at removing the pigmented gingiva and others aimed at masking the pigmented gingiva. This study was conducted in order to compare the effectiveness of diode laser and intramucosal injection of vitamin C on melanin gingival hyperpigmentation clinically and histologically. Ten patients seeking treatment for their gingival hyperpigmentation for esthetic reasons were included in this study. A total number of 20 sites