Research progress on diagnosis and treatment of gingival pigmentation / 口腔疾病防治

@#Gingival pigmentation(GP) manifests as dark pigmentation spots, such as black or brown spots, in the gums. It is mostly caused by the deposition of melanin particles secreted by melanocytes on the gingival epithelium. The influencing factors may be divided into two categories, exogenous and endogenous. Exogenous factors include heavy metals, tattoos, smoking or drug use, and endogenous factors are related to certain diseases. The clinical grading of GP helps make a reasonable assessment of the necessity of treatment and prognosis. The Dummett-Gupta oral pigmentation index is a commonly used grading method, and the new grading method formed by combining the etiology and clinical manifestations described the patient’s situation more comprehensively. It is necessary to ask for a detailed medical history, complete examination, and correctly differentiate between physiological GP and GP caused by pathological state. Laser treatment is the currenttreatment with a better treatment effect and higher patient acceptance, and it is more comfortable and convenient, including diode laser, Er: YAG laser, and Nd: YAG laser, etc. This article summarizes the formation factors, clinical manifestations and treatment methods of GP to provide ideas for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of GP.

Effects of Skin Temperature on UV-induced Erythema and pigmentation in Human Skin in Vivo / 대한피부과학회지

BACKGROUND: Skin temperature at UV radiation exposure influences acute skin reaction such as erythema and pigmentation. As most biochemical systems are affected by temperature, thermal change preceding or following UV exposure could influence the responses in the way to cause vascular blood flow and change the inflammatory response OBJECTIVE: To investigate the influence of thermal change on UV-induced erythema and pigmentation by using objective and quantitative method METHODS: A sunlight fluorescent sunlamp (Waldmann UV 800) was used as a UV light source. Multiple sites of the lower back were irradiated with an increasing doses of UV, which were preceded or followed by heating or cooling. With a reflectance spectrophotometer, we assessed erythema and melanin indices at control, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 MED dose-exposed sites. RESULTS: Compared with the only UV-exposed group, skin warming or cooling groups generally showed elevated acute erythema reaction with higher erythema indices. However, thermal changes preceding or following UV exposure had little effect on pigmentation except the post-warming group with UV exposure of 2 MED dose after 2 weeks. Our results indicate that altering the skin temperature modulates the degree of UV-induced erythema, but generally not skin pigmentation. CONCLUSION: The results in this study show that environmental factors such as heat or cooling have modulating effects on UV-induced skin reaction. These interactions should be considered when dealing with the effects of natural sun exposure or phototherapy.

Erythema and Melanin Index According to UVB Radiation Doses by Use of a Reflectance Spectrophotometer in Korean Young Adults / 대한피부과학회지

BACKGROUND: Methods of estimating the erythema and pigmentation reactions, such as MPE (Minimal Perceptible Erythema), ME(Minimal Erythema Dose) and MMD(Minimal Melanogenic Dose), are vulnerable to the variations of subjective visual measurements. OBJECTIVE: By using objective and quantitative methods, the erythema and pigmentaton responses were investigated. METHODS: A sunlight, fluorescent lamp(Waldmann UV 800) was used as a UVB light source. Multiple sites of the lower back were irradiated with an increasing dose by a constant amount, With a reflectance spectrophotometer (DermaSpectrometer(R)), erythema and melanin indices at control, MPE, MED, MMD sites were assessed. The dose-response angle of erythema and pigmentation were calculated. RESULTS: The erythema and pigmetation indices at the control, MPE, MED and MMD sites were 8.7+/-2.0AU/30.5+/-2.6AU, 10.5+/-2.7AU/32.6+/-3.6AU, 13.2+/-3.5AU/32.6+/-3.3AU, and 10.4+/-3.0AU/ 33.5+/-2.7AU, respectively. The calculated dose-response angle accurately measured the response of skin to UVB irradiation. CONCLUSION: In this study, use of a reflectance spectrophotometer appeared to be a more sensitive and effective method than visual assessment, in addition, dose-response angles may be an objective index for determination of skin responses to UVB irradiation.