Evaluation of bleaching efficiency of carbamide peroxide applied on different dental surfaces: An in vitro study

Tooth color is an important issue for esthetic dentistry professionals and for patients that wish to enhance the appearance of their smiles. At-home whitening under professional supervision is the usual form of treatment for tooth discolorations. The goal of this study was to assess the effectiveness of carbamide peroxide (CP) bleaching through the application of at-home bleaching gel on various dental surfaces.

Forty coffee-stained premolars were randomly assigned into four groups: only application on the buccal surface (A), only application on the lingual surface (B), application on the buccal and lingual surfaces simultaneously (C), and a control group with no bleaching (D). At-home bleaching gel (Polanight 22%) was used for the procedure. A digital spectrophotometer was used to evaluate bleaching efficacy (color change in CIELAB [ΔE ab] and Whitening Index for Dentistry [ΔWID]).

The simultaneous application of CP on buccal and lingual surfaces provides little additional efficiency compared to the buccal application alone, resulting in acceptable bleaching efficacy.