ArticleClinical and experimental dental research2026
How Effective Is Vitamin C for Gingival Depigmentation? A Scoping Review.
Article in Clinical and experimental dental research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesExcessive gingival pigmentation can be treated by surgically removing the pigmented gingival tissue with a scalpel, bur, LASER, electrocautery, cryotherapy, chemical peeling, or masking with free gingival grafts. Recently, vitamin C (ascorbic acid), in gel, powder, or liquid has been used alone or as an adjunct to micro-needling or scalpel for gingival depigmentation. This paper aims to critically appraise current evidence on the role of vitamin C in gingival depigmentation. MATERIAL AND
methodsThe review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis for Scoping Review (PRISMA-Scoping Review). Studies using "Vitamin C" in any form, via any application method, frequency, duration, and dosage for gingival depigmentation and compared were included.
resultsOut of 119, 103 articles were excluded and 16 articles were taken up for full text screening. Of 16, 12 articles were included in the review. The results showed that vitamin C has been used along with scalpel depigmentation or as a stand-alone therapy (as mesotherapy or topical application). Vitamin C effectively reduced gingival pigmentation, however with no statistical difference between the scalpel and vitamin C application was noted. No studies have compared the efficacy of vitamin C to cryotherapy. Microneedling of gingiva followed by vitamin C application was also done. The recurrence rate of pigmentation following vitamin C mesotherapy application was 32.59% after 3 months compared to 32.87% with the scalpel. Vitamin C mesotherapy also revealed a significant reduction in VAS scores for itching and pain and better patient acceptance than scalpel depigmentation.
conclusionVitamin C application with microneedle or mesotherapy is a promising atraumatic alternative to a scalpel for gingival depigmentation.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.