Comparison of the Effects of In-office Bleaching Times on Whitening and Tooth Sensitivity: A Single Blind, Randomized Clinical Trial.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of the present study was to compare the bleaching efficacy (BE) and tooth sensitivity (TS) of in-office bleaching applied under different time protocols. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Fifty-three patients were randomly distributed into three groups: the bleaching agent was applied in one (1×15), two (2×15), or three (3×15) 15-minute applications. The labial surfaces of the anterior teeth were bleached using a 35% hydrogen peroxide gel. Two bleaching sessions with a one-week interval between were performed. The shade evaluation was performed with a visual shade guide and spectrophotometer before and 30 days after bleaching. Participants recorded TS with a five-point verbal scale. Color change was analyzed by one-way analysis of variance and Tukey tests. The absolute risk of TS and TS intensity were evaluated by the Fisher exact and Friedman/Kruskal-Wallis tests, respectively (α= 0.05). RESULTS: Significant whitening was observed in all groups, with statistically lower BE for the 1×15 group (p<0.05). The absolute risk of TS (95% confidence interval) was lower for the 1×15 group than for the other groups (p<0.05). The TS intensity of the 3×15 group was statistically higher than that associated with the other protocols (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: A single 15-minute application produced less TS but reduced BE. The protocol with 2×15 produced a degree of BE similar to that of the 3×15 group, but with reduced overall TS intensity.

Effect of operator experience on the outcome of fiber post cementation with different resin cements.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the influence of operator experience (dentist vs student) and cementation system (Adper Scotchbond Multi-Purpose [SBMP] + RelyX ARC [1]; Adper Single Bond 2 [SB] + RelyX ARC [2] and RelyX U100 [3]) on the push-out bond strength (BS) of fiber post to radicular dentin. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The roots of 48 extracted human maxillary central incisors were prepared and divided into six groups (n=8), according to combination of the above factors. Glass fiber posts were cemented in accordance with the instructions of the manufacturer of each cementation system. After water storage at 37°C for one week, the roots were cross-sectioned into six 1-mm thick slices and the push-out test was performed (0.5 mm/min). Data were statistically analyzed by two-way analysis of variance and Tukey tests (α=0.05). The BS results obtained by dentist and student for each cementation system were compared using the Student t-test (α=0.05). RESULTS: Higher BS means were observed for the expert operators, irrespective of the cementation system used (p=0.006). RelyX U100 showed the highest bond strength, but it did not differ from SBMP + RelyX ARC. The Student t-test revealed that only RelyX U100 was not affected by the operator's experience. CONCLUSION: Within the limitations of this in vitro study, it can be concluded that the self-adhesive cement RelyX U100 showed the highest bond strength to the root canal in the student's group, and its performance was not affected by the operator's experience.

Effect of water storage on resin-dentin bond strengths formed by different bonding approaches.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of water storage on resin-dentin bond strengths [microTBS] using different adhesive bonding approaches. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Flat superficial dentin surfaces of 24 extracted human third molars were exposed and polished to create a standardized smear layer. The teeth were randomly distributed into four different groups: Three-step etch-and-rinse (Adper Scotchbond Multi-Purpose, 3M ESPE-SBMP), two-step etch-and-rinse (Adper Single Bond 2, 3 M ESPE-SB); two-step self-etch (AdheSE, Ivoclar/Vivadent-AD); and self-etch 1 step (Adper Prompt L-Pop, 3M ESPE-LP). Following the adhesive application (n = 6), resin composite was incrementally applied (Filtek Supreme XT-3 M ESPE) in order to obtain bonded sticks, with a cross-sectioned area of 0.81 mm2. The bonded sticks were randomly divided and assigned to be tested after one day [OD] (n 30) or six months [6 M] of water storage [6 M] (n = 30). RESULTS: Two-way ANOVA and Tukey's test showed that none of the adhesives showed degradation after 6 M. SB achieved the highest microTBS both in the [OD] (49.13 MPa) and [6M] (40.27 MPa). Despite the highest values in both time evaluations, the microTBS of SB significantly reduced after 6M. LP showed the lowest microTBS in both periods of evaluation (18.35 and 18.34 MPa). CONCLUSIONS: Although a significant degradation was only observed for SB, this was the adhesive that showed the highest microTBS after 6 M of water storage.