Dosage flexibility for at home teeth bleaching: analysis of the effectiveness, convenience and safety of alternative techniques

• Grant number: 24/12056-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: April 01, 2025
• End date: March 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Dentistry - Dental Materials
• Principal Investigator: André Luiz Fraga Briso
• Grantee: Alice de Oliveira Santos
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Odontologia (FOA). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araçatuba. Araçatuba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

At-home bleaching therapy is considered the gold standard treatment for resolving dental color alterations. Despite this, the technique faces resistance in patient adherence due to the requirement of wearing custom acetate trays for extended periods. This project aims to analyze alternative dosage regimens that provide the same color change and safety as the conventional protocol, without increasing adverse effects.To this end, in phase 1, 90 stained bovine tooth fragments will be randomly distributed into 6 groups (n=15), according to the treatments: P8 - 8 hours of exposure to the bleaching gel per day (control); P2x4 - 2 applications of 4 hours of exposure to the bleaching gel; P4 - 4 hours of exposure; P2x2 - 2 applications of 2 hours; P2 - 2 hours of exposure to the bleaching gel; P2x1 - 2 applications of 1 hour. Treatments will be carried out for 21 days. The response variables will be chromatic change ( E00), whitening index (WID), diffusion, and potentiometric degradation of H2O2. Subsequently, groups that do not achieve a WID similar to the control group will have their treatment extended until they reach the same WID, respecting the perceptibility limits (0.72). As secondary outcomes, the number of additional days, tray usage time, and the volume of bleaching gel required for each group will be evaluated. In phase 2, another 105 specimens with similar roughness and microhardness values will be divided into the same groups and will receive the treatments for the duration determined in phase 1, adding the additional time for each group. The response variables will be surface roughness and microhardness, as well as internal microhardness. Data will be analyzed using appropriate statistical tests.