Gingival enlargement may cause discomfort, interfere with speech or chewing, result in halitosis (bad odour to the breath) and it may look unsightly. It can be caused due to different etiological factors inherited.

Systemic diseases most often granulomatosis with polyangiitis, sarcoidosis, Crohn disease, Type 1 neurofibromatosis, primary amyloidosis, Kaposi sarcoma and acromegaly. Gingival overgrowth (GO) is the abnormal enlargement of maxillary and mandibular gingiva.

Blood conditions such as acute leukaemia, lymphoma or aplastic anaemia.

Localised gingival enlargement may be seen in Fabry disease, Cowden syndrome, tuberous sclerosis, Sturge-Weber angiomatosis and gingival granular cell tumour.

Genetic conditions, often present at birth (all rare conditions): hereditary fibromatosis, I-cell disease, mucopolysaccharidoses, fucosidosis, aspartyl glycosaminuria, Pfeiffer syndrome, infantile systemic hyalinosis and primary amyloidosis.

Uncommonly, it may be due to antibiotics, antidepressants and other medications.

Medications, most often ciclosporin, phenytoin and other anticonvulsants, calcium channel blockers.

Nutritional deficiency: scurvy (vitamin C deficiency).

Gingival enlargement is an unwanted adverse effect of some drugs. Find high-quality stock photos that you wont find anywhere else. It is also more likely to occur in those with poor dental hygiene. Healthy gums are pale pink or pigmented, and wrap tightly around the neck of the teeth. Search from Gingival Overgrowth stock photos, pictures and royalty-free images from iStock. It may be soft, which bleeds easily, or firm and fibrous.

Non-inflamed gingival enlargement tends to be a darker red or purple. Systemic diseases especially diabetes, HIV infection.Smoking, mouth breathing and overcrowded teeth.Poor dental hygiene resulting in bacterial plaque, gingivitis and periodontitis.Gingivitis may be localised or generalised. The affected tissue may be inflamed ( gingivitis), in which case the gums are red, soft, shiny and bleed easily.

Surgical management comes in play only when medical treatment is unsuccessful, however, recurrences are common and the results last for usually twelve months.Ĭopyright © 2022, StatPearls Publishing LLC.In many cases the cause is unknown. In the recent years azythromicin has gained a lot of attention due to its capacity to improve gingival overgrowths in patients taking cyclosporin A, avoiding the need of changing the drug to another agent. Gingival overgrowth impedes proper dental hygiene and, apart from the cosmetic damage, causes painful chewing and eating.Ī non-surgical approach is the first line of treatment, including appropriate plaque control and discontinuing or changing the inducing drug. A unifying hypothesis has been constructed which begins with cation flux inhibition induced by all three of these drug categories. The key offending drug classes are anticonvulsants, immunosuppressants, and calcium channel blockers. Drug-induced gingival overgrowth (DIGO) is a disfiguring side effect of anti-convulsants, calcineurin inhibitors, and calcium channel blocking agents. Drug-induced gingival overgrowth (DIGO), also referred to as drug-induced gingival enlargement, and previously known as drug-induced gingival hyperplasia, is a side-effect of certain drugs where the gingival tissue is not the intended target organ. The typical features of drug-influenced gingival overgrowth include an increase in collagen fibers, inflammatory infiltration, acanthosis and elongated rete.