Do You Have Dark Gums?
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Do You Have Dark Gums?
Monday 3 October 2011 @ 5:40 am

Is having dark gums a problem? That depends, more than anything on the color of your skin. Dark people are likely to have dark gums. The dark color comes from a buildup of melanin pigmentation in the gum tissue.

What causes dark gums?

People with darker skin are more likely to find this condition, which is natural.

Other factors can also darken gum tissue.

  • Smoking can cause dark patches in the gums.
  • Certain medications, including antimalarial agents, minocycline and tricyclic antidepressants can cause discoloration.
  • Amalgam tattoos, dark gray or blue spots on the gums, occur in the gum tissue near teeth restored using silver amalgam. This occurs when silver particles from the amalgam fillings get into the gum tissue.
  • Gum disease – Gums can also discolor as a result of calculus buildup, leading to gum disease. Calculus is a calcified version of dental plaque that usually forms on and under the gum line or between teeth. But it can also build up on the surface of gums as yellow or dark brown spots or patches. It tends to be rather common among children.
  • Black gum disease—medically known as necrotizing periodontal disease—is an infection that kills your gum tissue. The disease appears as blunted gum tissue and can be accompanied by pain, bleeding, an unpleasant odor and black dead gum tissue. Black gum disease occur with a combination of poor nutrition, stress, smoking, viral infections including HIV and autoimmune diseases. It is a serious condition that should be immediately shown to a periodontist.

Can dark gums be avoided?

If your skin color is dark, dark gums is not something you need to worry about because it is not a medical condition. If the darker color is due to smoking, giving up may be a good solution. If medications are causing your gums to darken, talk to your doctor about changing to alternatives. Although amalgam fillings do not always lead to amalgam tattoos, some people prefer alternatives to amalgam.

If your gums are dark because of the beginnings of gum disease, you can easily change that by brushing and flossing twice a day for two minutes each time. If the dark spots are there already, you need to visit your dentist and get treatment, and also to get your teeth professionally cleaned. After that, visiting the dentist twice a year and brushing regularly will help you avoid gum disease.

Treatments for dark gums

Whatever the cause, some people are bothered by the aesthetic aspect, and wish to do away with the dark color from their gums.

First of all, you need to find the reason for the dark color, besides your genetic heritage, and remove the causes. Then, if it does not go away, you may seek treatments to lighten the color of your gums.

Treatments include surgically removing the pigmented layers, transplanting new tissue or use of laser beams to bleach the pigmented areas into a more natural pink color. These techniques are effective for removing both natural pigmentation and dark patches from amalgam tattoos. In a few people, the pigmentation may return some time after treatment.

FreeDentistFinder.com can help you find a local dentist who will check and clean your teeth, and help remove the dark pigmentation on your gums.

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Comments (4) - Posted in Dental Health,Dental Studies,dental techniques by  


 4 responses to “Do You Have Dark Gums?”

  •   Robyn Howlett wrote:

    I am 16 and is there any way, I can reverse my gum color back to pink at home without treatment ?

  •   admin wrote:

    Dear Robyn,

    As mentioned in the article there are many causes for dark gums, so the treatment should obviously depend on the cause, or removing the cause. If your gums are dark because you have dark skin, the best idea should be to just embrace your heritage and live with it because even after treatments it may return to normal color in some people.

    Here’s the answer a dentist gave to someone asking a similar question on Yahoo Answers.
    However, if your gums used to be a lighter color and suddenly became dark overall, it could be due to a different reason than if gums just developed dark spots in one spot or more. Gum disease or amalgam tattoos may be the reason for the latter while some medication you have taken recently may cause the overall darkened effect. Either way you will benefit from a dental visit.

    Be cautious about trying home remedies. Even dental bleach, when used at home incorrectly even with a dentist’s approval, can inflame your gums and cause problems and pain. So we advice against trying any home remedies regardless of what the marketing materials say. Most are not backed by solid science.
    We recommend that you talk to your parents or caregiver and visit a pediatric dentist, if the coloration of your gums are bothering you.

    There are many ways to treat dark gums, beyond removing the causes. They fall into the categories of electrosurgery or laser treatments, scalpel surgery and surgical abrasion.
    Wishing you good luck and good health!
    FreeDentistFinder.com Team

  •   Ahil wrote:

    I’m 29 years old and I have this problem of my dark gums I never smoke in my whole life and I don’t have any kind of disease and I never taken any strong medicens in life but still I have this problem. Please help me to cure this and I want my gums pink not black.
    Thanks

    Ahil

  • Great post.

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