Current Status of Juvenile Gingival Pigmentation in Japanese Children and Young Adults

Abstract

The occurrence of pigmentation in the anterior portion of the gingiva of Japanese children and young adults (2675 females and 3043 males) in Tokyo and Saitama prefecture was examined from 1982 to 1986. The age of the test subjects ranged from zero to nineteen years. The findings were as follows:
1) The brown pigmentation was seen mainly in the attached gingivae between the left and right canine teeth in the maxilla and/or the mandibula.
2) The pigmentation first appeared at the age of two. The incidence greatly increased at the age of three, reaching the maximum,60%, at the age of six. In females, the percentage began to decrease at the age of eleven and showed about 6% at the age of nineteen. On the other hand, in males, the percentage began to decrease at the age of fourteen and showed about 25%at the age of nineteen.
3) The pigmentation was generally band-shaped and appeared first in the maxillary gingiva and then in the mandibular gingiva. In a few cases it appeared first in the mandibular gingiva after the age of six.
4) The pigmentation disappeared temporarily at the portion of exfoliation from deciduous teeth to permanent teeth. It seems that the pigment begins to fade before the exfoliation of the deciduous teeth and reappears after the eruption of the permanent teeth.
5) After the age of ten, the maculate pigmentation increased with the increase in age at the root region and the interdental region of the gingivae. It is suggested that these are the fading processes of the band-shaped pigmentation.
6) The pigmentation finally remained at the root region of the permanent lateral incisors or canine teeth, and in the interdental region between permanent lateral incisors and canine teeth or between the permanent central and lateral incisors.