Glutathione Injection versus Laser in the Treatment of Gingival Hyperpigmentation

Abstract

Aim: To assess the effect of intra –mucosal injection glutathione and diode laser for treatment gingival hyperpigmentation concerning: Evaluate Clinical outcome and patient satisfaction. as a primary objective. Assess histological responses of gingival tissues as secondary objective. Materials and Methods: This research involved 10 individuals seeking treatment for gingival hyperpigmentation for an esthetic concern (10 quadrant per group). Patients were recruited between January 2022 to December 2023, and then were randomly and equally allocated to each of the tested group; Group I (Glutath.) was considered the study group, Group II (laser) was considered the control group. All patients were committed to treatment protocol, none of the cases reported serious side effects or adverse outcomes for the interventions used. Results: There was no improvement in the mean DOPI sore with the injectable GLU (Group I) while with laser (Group II), there was a significant reduction in the mean of DOPI from baseline (2.66±0.72) to (0.79±0.40) 3 months after treatment. The mean % of Surface Area decreased insignificantly from baseline (5.99±2.79) to 3 months (4.62±2.40) after treatment in Group I (GLU). While in Group II, there was a significant decrease from baseline (5.90±1.74) to 3 months (2.23±1.41) in Group II (LASER). There was a significant difference in MAF on comparing Group I & II to being (1.62±0.56) (0.73±0.30) respectively after a three-month follow up there was a higher percentage of reduction among Group II than Group I. There was also a reduction in MAF among Group I from baseline (1.76±0.43) to (1.62±0.56) after 3 months of treatment but it was non-significant. Conclusion: Intra-mucosal injection of 1ml Glutathione (repeated 3 times with 1-week intervals) had no detectable effect on gingival pigmentation score and surface area compared to rapid initial response and more patient satisfaction with Diode Laser gingival depigmentation. Histologically, Diode Laser treatment showed a greater and significant reduction in MAF of melanosomes after three months post-treatment than Glutathione.