Spectrophotometric and visual analysis of internal dental bleaching utilizing laser and heat as catalyzing sources

Abstract

This experiment aimed at evaluating, in vitro, the chromatic alteration of dental crowns submitted to internal bleaching. Color alterations were evaluated by means of spectrophotometric analysis and visual observation, at the following experimental phases: initial reading (LI), after-darkening reading (LE), immediate after-bleaching reading (LC), bleaching checked after 15 days (LC15) and after 30 days (LC30). After finding the values of L* (luminosity), a* and b* (shade and saturation), which made it possible to quantify the chromatic alterations of the specimens, color differences (deltaE ) were assessed by means of the CIE Lab Program. The statistical analysis of the results did not reveal any significant difference between conventional bleaching and bleaching activated by Er:YAG laser. No statistical difference was observed between the results after 15 and 30 days, for both experimental groups.