An in vitro Study upon the Efficacy of Four Different Bleaching Methods: Home Bleaching, In-office Bleaching, Their Combination and Laser Bleaching

Tooth whitening has become a popular treatment in esthtic dentistry. The aim of this in vitro study was to compare 4 different methods of bleaching including home bleaching, in-office bleaching, combination of these techniques and laser on the amount of color change in the natural teeth.
A total of 50 intact human premolers teeth of matched size were prepared and divided into 5 groups of 10 teeth. Group 1: home bleaching using 15% carbamide peroxide (CP); Group 2: In-office bleaching using 40% hydrogen peroxide; Group 3: combination of first and second methods; Group4: 40% hydrogen peroxide combined with 2 sections of 30 s of diode laser; Group 5: control (without treatment). Tooth color measurements were performed according to the CIELab system using spectrophotometer before treatment procedure and 1 week after.
Comparing the different treatments showed that home bleaching and combination methods were significantly more effective (P0.05).
The results suggested that the use of diode laser in not a suitable bleaching technique and did not improve the color changes. In addition, in-office bleaching did not provide effective tooth whitening. However, home bleaching and combination methods are more effective bleaching techniques.