Garak Market Station Dental Clinic - Why Do Gums Turn Black?

Hello, I am Shin Seung-hwan, the chief director of Yonsei Uline Dental Clinic, Garak Market Station Branch, near Garak-dong, Songpa-gu and Garak Market Station.

Today, I’d like to talk about gum discoloration, which many people are concerned about.

As the term suggests, discoloration refers to a change in the original color of the gums. However, gum discoloration does not have just one single cause. There are several types, and each has different causes and treatments.

So today, I will explain step by step why these changes occur, by type.

First, the most common type of discoloration is caused by melanin pigment. Just as people have lighter or darker skin, the gums also have a layer of melanin cells, and people with more pigment naturally have gums that appear deeper and darker in color.

Conversely, when there is less pigment, the gums generally appear bright pink. This type of discoloration caused by melanin pigment usually does not appear as one single dark spot, but often shows up in a broader, more spread-out pattern.

In particular, some people worry because the gum area around the front teeth looks darker. In such cases, the pigment layer can be reduced through a procedure that thinly removes the epithelial layer.

Simply put, it is a method of tidying the gum surface using dental instruments such as a laser or a scalpel, similar to skin resurfacing in dermatology. After the procedure, disinfection and care are needed, but for people who are very concerned about the appearance, it can be helpful.

Next, there are cases where only one specific area changes color. This is mostly related to inflammation.

Gum disease, periodontitis, or inflammation of the tooth’s inner nerve, or inflammation at the root tip spreading outward, can cause the gum in that area to turn blue, yellow, or red and look slightly swollen.

In this case, it is not simply a pigment issue but a change caused by disease, so depending on the cause, root canal treatment or gum treatment may be necessary.

Another cause is discoloration from blood vessel damage. When you brush too hard and hit the gums, when a needle enters during dental anesthesia, or when tiny blood vessels are damaged, and also after wisdom tooth extraction or implant surgery, bruising can occur due to damage to the surrounding blood vessels.

So inside the mouth, just like when you get an injection in your arm and rub it, causing a bruise, it may first look blue, then turn yellow over time, and gradually disappear after about a week.

This naturally recovers over time, so there is no need to worry too much.

Next is discoloration caused by prosthetics. These are not used much these days, but in the past, many prosthetics were made with metal inside tooth-colored restorations.

Although the outside is tooth-colored, the metal inside can show through, causing the gums to appear black. If an old prosthetic has been in place for a long time and the gum line looks black, this is likely the reason.

These days, replacing it with a metal-free all-ceramic prosthetic can make the appearance much more natural.

Sometimes the tooth itself becomes discolored, and the color shows through to the root, making the gums look dark.

Root discoloration can also occur. It appears in teeth whose nerves have died, or in teeth that have undergone root canal treatment, and the entire tooth becomes a deeper orange or brown color, with the discoloration extending to the root as well.

In particular, the outer bone around the root and the gums around the front teeth are both thin, so that dark color can be transmitted outward, creating the optical illusion that the gums are black. Unfortunately, in this case, there is currently no definite way to whiten or block the color inside the root.

So when the gums appear dark because of a tooth that has discolored after nerve death, you should understand that it may be difficult to fundamentally resolve the color change.

As I explained today, gum discoloration has many different causes, such as pigment issues, inflammation, blood vessel damage, prosthetics, and tooth discoloration. For that reason, it can be difficult to identify the exact cause just by looking at it, and the treatment can differ completely depending on the cause.

If gum discoloration continues to bother you, it is best to have the cause accurately identified at a dental clinic and then determine the most appropriate treatment direction. That was Yonsei Uline Dental Clinic, located near Exit 4 of Garak Market Station.