Teeth Bleaching Efficacy During Clear Aligner Orthodontic Treatment

Clear aligner treatment has become popular for many orthodontic cases that ordinarily would have required traditional orthodontic brackets and wires. One of the motivating reasons for patients to use clear aligner therapy is to improve their esthetic appearance, which typically is the same motivation for teeth bleaching, thus a combination of the two treatments may be desirable. The case report presented demonstrates bleaching concurrent with clear aligner (Invisalign®) treatment. A concern about bleaching during such treatment is that the areas on the tooth under the composite attachments, or buttons, used to retain the clear aligner trays may remain unbleached. However, due to the small molecular size of the bleaching material agent and its ability to permeate the tooth, the area under the attachment will be bleached as well. With this understanding, a practitioner can treat patients more efficiently by being able to complete bleaching treatment simultaneously with clear aligner treatment.