Influence of different thickeners in at-home tooth bleaching: a randomized clinical trial study.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effects of 10% carbamide peroxide (CP) with two different thickeners, carbopol (CPc) and natrosol (CPn), on color variation (CV), tooth sensitivity (TS), and cytotoxicity (CC). METHODS: Seventy subjects were distributed into the CPc or CPn groups (n = 35), in a parallel group, randomized, controlled, single-blind clinical trial. Bleaching gels were used by volunteers for 4 h daily for 2 weeks. Color evaluation was performed using a reflectance spectrophotometer, before bleaching treatment (BT), immediately after the first and second weeks of BT, and 1 week and 1 month after BT ended. TS was evaluated using two pain scales, before, during, and after BT. CC was evaluated using MTT after exposure of MDPC-23 cells to the bleaching gels for 4 h. Epoxy replicas of the subjects teeth were made before and after BT and analyzed using a scanning electronic microscope. The data was analyzed using statistical methods. RESULTS: CV and TS showed similar variation between both bleaching gels (p ≤ 0.05). None of the protocols affected cellular metabolism or the surface morphology of enamel. CONCLUSIONS: Bleaching gels with carbopol and natrosol as thickening agents produced similarly effective tooth bleaching and TS, but did not cause cytotoxicity. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Natrosol could be an alternative as a thickener used in bleaching gels due to its similar bleaching effect and TS when compared with Carbopol.

Efficacy of tooth bleaching with the prior application of a desensitizing agent.

AIM: In the present study, we evaluated the efficacy of bleaching on enamel and opposite dentin surfaces using 35% hydrogen peroxide (HP) with the prior application of a desensitizing agent. METHODS: Thirty bovine dental fragments, with thicknesses of 1 mm enamel and 1.75 mm dentin, were stained in a solution of black tea. The fragments were randomly divided into three groups (n = 10) according to the following protocols: (a) 2% neutral fluoride + bleaching; (b) desensitizing agent + bleaching; and (c) without desensitizer + bleaching. The bleaching efficacy was evaluated four times: after staining with tea (baseline) and after each of the 3 weeks of bleaching, by means of the CIE Lab method using a reflectance spectrophotometer. The data coordinate L* was evaluated by an analysis of repeated measures with PROC MIXED and Tukey-Kramer's test. The ΔE values were subjected to anova and Tukey's test (α = 0.05). RESULTS: The 35% HP treatment showed greater efficacy on deep dentin after removal of the enamel stains, with increasing means during all times in all treatments. CONCLUSION: The use of a desensitizing agent prior to the bleaching session did not affect the mechanism of action of 35% HP with regard to tooth depth.