EFFICACY, TOOTH SURFACE MICROHARDNESS AND ROUGHNESS AFTER TREATMENT WITH COMBINATION OF LASER AND HOME BLEACHING PROTOCOL: AN IN VITRO STUDY

Teeth whitening or bleaching has pleased people with aesthetic concerns for long. To improve the efficacy of bleaching and reduce the ill effects on the tooth surface, a combination of power bleaching (PB) and home bleaching (HB) can be used. Objective. To compare the efficacy and effects of combinations of PB/laser bleaching (LB) and HB protocol on human natural tooth structure. Materials & methods: Eighty-eight permanent maxillary central incisors were randomly divided into four groups (n=22). After staining, teeth were bleached using different bleaching protocols: Group 0 (control), Group 1 (Laser White 20 46% hydrogen peroxide (HP) + Opalescence PF 20% carbamide peroxide (CP) – HB sequence for 3 days), Group 2 (Laser White 20 46% HP + Opalescence PF 20% CP – HB sequence for 7 days), Group 3 (Opalescence PF 20% CP – HB sequence for 14 days). Colorimetric measurement was performed, enamel surface roughness and microhardness were measured. Scanning Electron microscope (SEM) evaluation was done to compare the surface topography. Pre and post bleaching data were analysed using paired T-test. Multiple comparison between groups was carried out using one-way ANOVA complemented by Post hoc test (Bonferroni), with significance level set at P<0.05. Results: All protocols demonstrated significant efficacy to whiten stained enamel. All groups demonstrated significant increase in hardness (P<0.05). Surface roughness reduced significantly in Group 1 and 2. SEM showed that Group 1 had a similar microscopic surface appearance as unbleached enamel, while Group 3 had accentuated irregularities. Conclusion: LB followed by HB for 3 days is the most effective in whitening stained teeth with positive effects on tooth surface hardness while maintaining surface topography of dental hard tissues.