At-home vital bleaching: a comparison of hydrogen peroxide and carbamide peroxide treatments

Tray bleaching of vital teeth performed at home by the patient under the dentist s supervision, whether alone or in combination with any of the in-office techniques, provides an interesting alternative to other methods employed in this type of dental treatment. This bleaching procedure applies low-concentration peroxides to the enamel by means of a custom-made mouth tray specifically designed for this purpose. The aim of this study is to examine and compare two commercially-available bleaching products, at equivalent concentrations, for use in this technique: VivaStyle (Vivadent) and FKD (Kin); the former is a 10% carbamide peroxide and the latter a 3.5% hydrogen peroxide formulation. It examines the parameters that must be monitored during the application of this type of procedure and presents 6 cases (3 treated with one of the above-mentioned products and the other 3 with the other), establishing the bleaching power of the products and the appearance and intensity of post-operatory hypersensitivity. The results obtained show that both products are effective for the purpose for which they were designed. In general, dental hypersensitivity was minimal.