The Effect of Tooth Whitener on the Color and Microhardness of Human Enamel in Vitro

미백제가 법랑질 명도 변화에 미세경도에 미치는 영향

Human teeth vary widely in color. Practitioner and patients are concerned with preventing and correcting discolored or dark teeth to achieve and maintain stain-free, white teeth. Tooth brushing cannot alter tooth color but it can remove adhering films and stains. The esthetics of natural dentition can be improved by bleaching and this process can be applied to intrinsically and extrinsically stained teeth. The need for a brighter, more attractive smile has made rapid growth in the market for tooth whiteners. There is no doubt these products work as whiteners, at least on mild to moderate stains, but the safety of these products are unclear. In this experiment, the effect of tooth whitener application on the color and microhardness of extracted human enamel was measured. RMS, RMT and NWT were used as tooth whiteners, and tooth paste(ETQ) and hydrogen peroxide solution(HPO) were used as controls. 35 caries-free extracted human molars were embedded and polished with the exposed enamel diameter of 4 mm. The tooth whiteners and control agents were applied according to the manufacturers' instructions or clinically simulated procedures for eight weeks, and measurements were repeated every two weeks. Value(L＊) difference was measured using Differential Colorimeter(Model TC-6FX, Denshoku Co., Japan), and microhardness was measured using microhardness tester(Mitsuzawa Seiki Co., Japan). The results were as follows; 1. After application of agents for eight weeks, the Vickers hardness increased significantly in the ETQ, RMS and RMT application group(p〈0.01), and that decreased significantly in NWT application group(p〈0.01), but in HPO application group there was no significant change. The change in microhardness was greatest in NWT application group(p〈0.01). 2. After application of tooth whiteners and controls for eight weeks, the value change of toothpaste application group was significantly lower than those of other agents groups(p〈0.01), and there was no significant difference in value(L＊) change among tooth whitener groups(p〉0.01). 3. The application of tooth paste and paste type tooth whitener made gradual value change, but hydrogen peroxide gel type tooth whitener and hydrogen peroxide solution made rapid value change during initial application period.