AN OVERVIEW OF EFFICACY OF WHITENING TREATMENTS FOR EXTRINSIC AND INTRINSIC STAINING

Aside from caries and periodontitis prevention, a rising number of oral care products focus on teeth whitening. The purpose of this paper is to outline and discuss commonly used whitening agents and their chemical efficacy. As a result, a detailed literature review on teeth whitening chemicals and products was carried out. A chemist's perspective is used to assess and debate existing whitening processes. Abrasives (mechanical removal of stains), antiredeposition agents (prevention of chromophores deposition), colorants (intended to result in a white color), proteases (protein degradation), peroxides (oxidation of organic chromophores), and surfactants (removal of hydrophobic compounds from tooth surface) are commonly used whitening agents. Although in-office whitening with peroxides is effective, it might cause tooth sensitivity or damage to the natural organic matrix of enamel and dentin. Because of the possibility for tooth wear, the use of abrasives in teeth whitening is limited, especially when toothpastes with high RDA values are employed.