Is personality relevant in the choice of bleaching?

The purpose was to administer the NEO-FFI personality test to patients who did and did not want to have their teeth bleached and before and after bleaching to the participants who accepted the treatment. The research question is to correlate styles and personality factors with bleaching.

There were 128 patients eligible for bleaching; 58 accepted (AB) while 70 refused (RB). The test was administered to both groups (AB-RB). The group AB was administered before and 1 week after the end of the bleaching. For each personality domain comparison, the Mann-Whitney test was used. For the group AB, the results for each domain before and after bleaching were compared using the Wilcoxon test.

There was a significant difference between the groups (AB-RB) in the extraversion factor (p = 0.01). There was no significant difference between any of the personality items before and after bleaching (p > 0.1). The comparison between groups by sex revealed significant differences in extraversion and neuroticism factors. Males who AB scored higher in extraversion than males who RB (p < 0.05). Females scored higher in neuroticism than males who AB (p < 0.05).

There were personality differences between people who decided to bleach compared with those who did not want the bleaching, which was mainly in the extroversion factor. This stereotypes the patients, who could be described as more sociable, extroverted, and concerned about esthetics and cleanliness. The bleaching protocol, however, cannot modify any of the personality factors.

It is important to understand a patient's behavior to meet their needs and to determine the type of patients who would like to have their teeth bleached.