Comparative Assessment of Efficacy of "BLUEM" Active Oxygen Gel and COE-PAK Dressing on Postoperative Healing After Surgical Depigmentation-A Split Mouth Study.

Introduction: Dark-colored gingiva is an esthetic concern that cannot be ignored, especially when accompanied by a high lip line or gummy smile. Gingival depigmentation is a periodontal plastic surgical procedure, wherein the hyperpigmentation is removed or reduced by various techniques. Materials and Methods: This split-mouth randomized clinical trial was conducted on 20 patients aged between 18 and 45 years with maxillary physiological gingival pigmentation classes (II), (III), and (IV) according to the Dummett-Gupta Oral Pigmentation Index (40 treated sites). The maxilla was randomly divided into two symmetrical parts-from the right second premolar to the midline and from the midline to the left second premolar-to receive either BlueM gel or COE-PAK as a dressing after surgical depigmentation with a scalpel. Indices assessed were healing index and re-epithelization index with toluidine blue, and the follow-up period was one month. Results: The result of the study demonstrated that pain score and re-epithelization score were less in the test group (BlueM gel) as compared to the control group (COE-PAK) and was statistically significant. Conclusion: It can be concluded that BlueM gel can also be a better alternative as a periodontal dressing compared to COE-PAK due to its properties of better healing and decreasing postoperative pain.