Impact of Microabrasion on the Effectiveness of Tooth Bleaching

Abstract The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of prior microabrasion on the teeth color change and tooth bleaching effectiveness. Eight sound molars were mesio-distally sectioned and the halves were randomly allocated to receive enamel microabrasion or non-abrasion (control) in one of surfaces (buccal or lingual), while the remaining surface received the other treatment. The tooth color on baseline was evaluated by spectrophotometer (CieL*a*b system). After the microabrasion procedure, the tooth color was measured again. Following, the specimens were bleached with 35% hydrogen peroxide for two sessions with one-week interval. The color was re-evaluated 7 days after each section and 30 days after the second session. The effect of enamel microabrasion on color changes was evaluated by paired T-test. Deltas L*, a*, b*, and E were calculated and data submitted to 2-way repeated measure ANOVA followed by Tukey`s test. Paired T-test was also used to assess possible differences on the ultimate color achieved after tooth bleaching. Enamel microabrasion reduced the lightness and increased the redness of specimens. Specimens that received microabrasion presented higher values of ∆L* than control after each bleaching procedure; and higher ∆a* after the 2nd bleaching session. However, the prior enamel microabrasion did not affect the ultimate values of color parameters. Despite enamel microabrasion have modified the tooth color, this procedure did not affect the ultimate results achieved with tooth bleaching using a high-concentrated hydrogen peroxide.