The bleaching efficiency of KTP and diode 810 nm lasers on teeth stained with different substances: An in vitro study

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the bleaching efficiency of two different lasers (KTP and diode 810 nm) on teeth, randomly divided by means an Excel function (Microsoft Excel 2010 "Fx causale") and stored in physiological solution, that were previously stained with different substances commonly considered as a cause of tooth discoloration, such as coffee, tea and red fruits and to investigate the role of laser irradiation in an experimental model, during the dental bleaching process.

Three groups of 45 bovine teeth were created and immersed for one week in a solution of tea, coffee or red fruits respectively. Each group was divided into three sub-groups of fifteen teeth. One was bleached with a 30% hydrogen peroxide gel for 30 min only as control, another 15 teeth group was bleached with the gel plus 810 nm diode laser irradiation and the last group was bleached with the gel plus KTP irradiation. The lasers were applied in three cycles of 30 sec each with a power of 1.5 W localized on a 10 mm spot on the teeth. The temperature of the gel was checked during the bleaching procedure using a thermometer and the colour of each tooth was measured by a spectrophotometer.

Statistical analysis of the collected data was performed using Graph Pad Prism, version 6.01 software, Kruskal-Wallis test and Dunn's multiple comparison test and Mann-Whitney test. P value <0.0001 was considered extremely significant (***), P value between 0.001 to 0.01 very significant (**), P value between 0.01 to 0.05 significant (*) and P value >0.05 not significant (ns). By these tests diode laser was effective only at bleaching teeth stained with coffee meanwhile the KTP laser was efficient at bleaching teeth with coffee, tea and red fruits stains.

This study suggests that a relation between the laser wavelength and the type of staining on the dental enamel and the efficacy of the whitening treatment exists.