Effect of acidity of in-office bleaching gels on tooth sensitivity and whitening: a two-center double-blind randomized clinical trial

Clinical Oral Investigations

pp 1–8

Abstract

Objectives

The study aimed to compare the tooth sensitivity (TS) and bleaching efficacy of two hydrogen peroxide gels with different pHs (acid pH [Pola Office, SDI] and the neutral pH [Pola Office+, SDI]) used for in-office bleaching.

Materials and methods

Fifty-four patients from Brazil and Chile, with right superior incisor darker than A2, were selected for this double-blind, split-mouth randomized trial. Teeth were bleached in two sessions, with 1-week interval. Each session had three applications of 8 min each, according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The color changes were evaluated by subjective (Vita Classical and Vita Bleachedguide) and objective (Easy shade spectrophotometer) methods. Participants recorded TS with 0–10 visual analog scale. Color change in shade guide units (SGU) and ΔE was analyzed by Student’s t test (α = 0.05). The absolute risk and intensity of TS were evaluated by McNemar’s test and Wilcoxon-paired test, respectively (α = 0.05).

Results

All groups achieved the same level of whitening after 30 days of clinical evaluation. The use of a neutral in-office bleaching gel significantly decreases the absolute risk of TS (28%, 95% CI 18–41) and intensity of TS when compared to the acid bleaching gel (absolute risk of 50%, 95% CI 37–63).

Conclusion

The use of a neutral in-office bleaching agent gel produced the same whitening degree than an acid bleaching gel but with reduced risk and intensity of tooth sensitivity.

Clinical significance

Clinicians should opt to use in-office bleaching with a neutral gel than an acid product because the former causes a significant lower risk and intensity of tooth sensitivity.