Objective: The current study assessed the efficacy of three current bleaching methods.
Methods: Seventy-five healthy subjects (45 female; 30 male) with anterior teeth, having a Vita Shade score of A2 or darker, participated in the study. The subjects were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups: Group A: home-bleaching (illumine Home, 10% carbamide peroxide, trays, overnight, for two weeks), Group B: in-office bleaching (Illumine Office, 15% hydrogen peroxide, trays for 45 minutes, three times over three weeks), Group C: Whitestrips (strips, twice a day, 30 minutes each for two weeks). Following the screening visit, three weeks prior to the baseline examination, all subjects received a dental prophylaxis. The color of the teeth was determined using a colorimeter (ShadeEye NCC) and a custom-made stent at baseline (E0), immediately after completion of the bleaching (E3) and three months after treatment (E4). All subjects received oral hygiene instructions and a toothbrush and toothpaste for oral home care during the study period. The change of tooth color was determined for each treatment regimen between baseline and E3 and baseline and E4 and was statistically analyzed performing the Kruskal Wallis test and the Mann-Whitney-U test. The significance level was set atp < 0.01.
Results: The dropout rate was 0%. Mean (SD) deltaE* (overall color change) from baseline to immediately after treatment was 6.57 (2.13) for Group A, 5.77 (1.72) for Group B and 3.58 (1.57) for Group C. The mean (SD) tooth color change from baseline to three months after treatment deltaE* was: 4.98 (1.34) for Group A, 4.59 (1.42) for Group B and 2.99 (1.39) for Group C. Significant differences were found between home bleaching and Whitestrips, as well as between in-office bleaching and Whitestrips, but not between home-bleaching and in-office bleaching during the same time.
Conclusion: Using an objective color measurement device, home bleaching and in-office bleaching were found to be superior to Whitestrips. Home bleaching and in-office bleaching were equally efficient for bleaching teeth and maintaining the results for up to three months.