A 32-year-old female who requested cosmetic therapy for "black gum" in the anterior part of the mandibular gingiva visited the Department of Periodontology, School of Dentistry, Kyung Hee University. There were no contributory medical problems. Melanin hyperpigmentation was found on the labial surface of the mandibular arches and maxillary lateral incisor. Compared with case 1, pigmentation showed more focal pigmented lesions ().\nThe same depigmentation techniques were applied: the Er:YAG laser on the right side and mechanical depigmentation of rotary round bur on the left side. Since the patient had focal pigmentation, depigmentation was conducted on both the maxilla and mandible area simultaneously. Due to the patient's thin gingival biotype and careless laser application, case 2 showed exposure of underlying bone around the incisal area on the right side of the mandible ().\nAt 1 week, the gingiva showed gradual epithelization, but was in an immature state. The laser surgery area showed redness and unfavorable healing with an appearance of necrosis. On the other hand, on the left side where the high speed rotary was applied, almost complete re-epithelization was observed (). After 2 weeks, epithelization was completed except in the right mandibular area (). A linear cleft was observed in the right mandibular area until 3 weeks. The wound healing was almost completed, but slight redness still remained at 4 weeks after surgery. However, the patient was satisfied with the significant improvement in color. Gingival recession and loss of papilla were not observed at 4 weeks after surgery ().
A 27-year-old male who had a chief complaint of unesthetic melanin pigmentation in the anterior part of the maxillary and mandibular gingiva visited the Department of Periodontology, School of Dentistry, Kyung Hee University. There was no remarkable medical history, but he had been smoking a pack of cigarettes per day on average for the last 10 years. Diffused melanin hyperpigmentation was found on the labial surface of both the maxillary and mandibular arches ().\nFor the comparison of the two techniques, melanin pigmentation was removed bilaterally: on the right side Er:YAG laser therapy was used, while on the other side the epithelium was mechanically removed with a rotary round bur.