Evaluation of Dental Enamel Mass in Prolonged Supervised Dental Bleaching Protocol with Calcium-Containing Gel

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the enamel mass variation after a prolonged bleaching treatment using a calcium-containing 4% hydrogen peroxide gel Twenty sound bovine incisors were randomly assigned to two groups (n=10) stored in G1) distilled water and G2) artificial saliva. An electronic analytic scale (.000 grams measurements) was used to determine the enamel mass variation before and after the bleaching procedures at the following evaluation times: T0) before the bleaching procedures; T1) 14 days of treatment, as instructed by the manufacturer; T2) 21 days of treatment, 50 % beyond what is instructed by the manufacturer; and T3) 28 days of treatment, 100 % beyond what is instructed by the manufacturer. The highest mean was observed at T2/G2 (0.3259 g) and the lowest at T2/G1 (0.3265 g). The specimens stored in distilled water (G1) showed 6 % mass reduction when T0 (0.3277 g) was compared to T3 (0.3277 g). On the other hand, the specimens stored in artificial saliva exhibited a significant mass increase of 19 % when T0 (0.3521 g) was compared to T3 (0.3528 g). Prolonged bleaching therapy using 4 % hydrogen peroxide with calcium resulted in a massive reduction when water was used as a storage medium. When the specimens were stored in artificial saliva, an increase in mass was observed, probably due to the mineralizing properties of the artificial saliva.