RESEARCH ARTICLE


A Clinical Study of the Effectiveness of a Light Emitting Diode System on Tooth Bleaching



Roche Hayward, Yusuf Osman , Sias R Grobler*
Oral and Dental Research Institute, Faculty of Dentistry, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X1, Tygerberg 7505, Cape Town, South Africa


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Creative Commons License
© Hayward et al.; Licensee Bentham Open.

open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Oral and Dental Research Institute, Faculty of Dentistry, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X1, Tygerberg 7505, Cape Town, South Africa; Tel: +27 937 3024; Fax: +27 937 3025; E-mail: srgrobler@uwc.ac.za


Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a Light Emitting Diode (LED) System (BriteWhite) on tooth bleaching. Method: eeth 11 and 21 of twenty one subjects were treated in the chair with a LED light and 44% carbamide peroxide gel, followed by an at-home treatment period of 14 days with 35% carbamide peroxide. The color of the teeth was measured with a spectrophotometer (L*; a*; b*) before treatment (control) and after the above mentioned two stages. The subjects were also instructed to note tooth and gingival sensitivity. Results: For the L* component a statistically significant difference (p<0.05) between base-line and directly after the LED treatment stage (whiter) was found and a complete relapse was found after the 14 day at-home treatment period. The b* component showed statistically significant differences (p<0.05) between base-line and the LED stage (less yellow more blue), with a further significant color improvement after the 14 day treatment period. For the a* component (green to red) no statistically significant change was (p>0.05) found throughout the study (Wilcox on Signed Rank Sum Test). A major color change of 1.8 units (ΔEab) was found after the LED treatment stage with only a further small 0.2 unit improvement after the 14 day at-home treatment stage. Tooth and gingival sensitivity scores were low (below mild) throughout the treatment stages. Conclusion: A major tooth color increase was found after the in-office LED/gel treatment stage and only an insignificant further improvement was noted after the additional 14 day at-home treatment period. Only low tooth and gingival sensitivity scores were found. A slight increase in both the sensitivity and gingival scores after the LED/gel activated stage could be observed. Overall the total color increase was low.

Keywords: BriteWhite system, LED light, spectrophotometer, tooth whitener.