Effect of Tooth-Whitening Procedures on Stained Composite Resins

In this laboratory study, a composite resin was stained to a visibly discernible level using both coffee and red wine over 14 days (change was considered clinically noticeable and significant when ΔE_ab*≥2.7). Color change was measured at one, three, seven, and 14 days of staining. Although the nature of color change was different for the two staining solutions, the overall degree of staining (ΔE_ab*) rendered by either coffee or wine at each time interval was not significantly different ( p≥0.05). Four whitening protocols were applied to stained composites. Treatment included applications of distilled water (control), Crest Pro-Health [HD] toothpaste, Crest Whitestrips, Opalescence PF bleach (15%), and application of a fine pumice polishing (Preppies). HD toothpaste and Whitestrips were applied daily for 21 days, Opalescence was applied daily for 10 days, and polishing was applied once. Each of the whitening products, applied in a manner simulating at-home or in-office treatment, was effective in producing color improvements (lightening) over controls ( p<0.05), but none of the four treatments produced lightening that was significantly different from the other treatments ( p≥0.05). A comparison of final composite color with that measured at baseline showed that Opalescence returned composite color to an acceptable level following exposure to both staining solutions (ΔE_ab*<2.7), Whitestrips returned color close to baseline for wine-stained composites, and HD paste and polishing permitted residual stain to remain (ΔE_ab*≥2.7).