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Bleaching Stained Arrested Caries Lesions: In vivo Clinical Study
Sarah S Al-Angari1, Mashael AlHadlaq2, Noor Abahussain3
1Department of Restorative Dental Science, College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Objective:
Conservative approaches to esthetically treat stained arrested caries lesions (s-ACLs) have not been explored in clinical studies. This study aims to investigate the efficacy of in-office dental bleaching agent, as a conservative approach, to esthetically treat s-ACLs.
Materials And Methods:
Twelve patients (n = 46) presented with s-ACLs were treated with 40% hydrogen peroxide (in-office bleaching protocol; 20 minutes × 3). Color values were measured using a spectrophotometer (CIE L*a*b*), aided with digital photography to assess visual color change clinically. Measurements were taken for each specimen at baseline and immediately after bleaching.
Statistical Analysis:
The color change calculated before and after bleaching for each dental substrate was analyzed using paired t-test (α = 0.05).
Results:
The bleached s-ACLs had a significant increase in L* values (p < 0.001), and a significant decrease in both a* (p = 0.001) and b* (p = 0.007) values, indicating lighter color improvement (bleaching efficacy). The baseline mean of L*, a*, and b* values were 61.5, 2, and 15.4, respectively, and after bleaching were 67.7, 1.4, and 13.3, respectively, with a mean increase in ∆E of >7.9, which resulted in a visible clinical stain improvement as orange/light brown stains were removed completely, while gray/black stains improved to a lesser extent.
Conclusion:
Significant color improvement was observed when the in-office bleaching protocol (40% hydrogen peroxide) was used in orange/brown s-ACLs. However, it showed lesser improvement in gray/black s-ACLs.
