SUMMARY: Hyperactivity of

melanocytes is the reason for dark colour of gingiva, which is absolutely benign condition with only esthetic disadvantage, for people with gummy smilemostly. Depigmentation is a procedure of removing or reducing of gingival hyperpigmentation. The purpose of the research is to investigate the advantage of using Er:YAG la-ser than liquid nitrogen in case of gingival depigmentation. That’s why two alternative methods are used: laser ablation with an Er:YAG laser and cryosurgical procedure of tissue destruction by fast freezing with liquid nitrogen (-196º C).Laser assisted gingival depigmentation is a single step pro-cedure, with fast healing process. There is difficult control of penetration and risk for excessive tissue destruction after prolonged freezing in the cryosurgical procedure. Key words: Er:YAG laser, liquid nitrogen, depigmen-tatio