Whitening Effect of Different Toothpastes on Bovine Dental Enamel: an in situ study

Abstract The aim of this in situ study was to evaluate color change, surface roughness, gloss, and microhardness in tooth enamel submitted to whitening and remineralizing toothpastes. Fifteen healthy adults (REBEC - RBR-7p87yr) (with unstimulated salivary flow ≥ 1.5 ml for 5 minutes, pH=7) wore two intraoral devices containing four bovine dental fragments (6 x 6 x 2 mm). Participants were randomly assigned and instructed to toothbrush the devices with the tested toothpastes (30 days): CT: conventional; WT: whitening; WTP: whitening with peroxide, and RT: remineralizing toothpaste. A washout period of 7 days was established. Readouts of color, gloss, surface roughness, and microhardness were performed before and after brushing. The results demonstrated no color, gloss, and microhardness differences (p>0.5). The samples brushed with WTP (0.2(0.7) showed higher surface roughness (p=0.0493) than those with WT (-0.5(1.0). The toothpastes did not alter the properties of the dental enamel, except for the roughness. Toothpaste with an abrasive system based on sodium bicarbonate and silica, and that contains sodium carbonate peroxide increased the surface roughness of the enamel.