The ability of dual whitening anti-caries mouthrinses to remove extrinsic staining and enhance caries lesion remineralization – An in vitro study

Abstract

Objectives This laboratory study investigated the ability of dual whitening anti-caries mouthrinses to remove extrinsic staining from artificially stained caries lesions and to enhance their remineralization and fluoridation.

Materials and Methods Early caries lesions were created in bovine enamel specimens. The lesions were artificially stained and pH cycled for 10 days with the daily cycling regimen consisting of twice daily 60s-treatments with one of 11 mouthrinses, a 4-h demineralization period and artificial saliva treatments in between. Mouthrinses were eight commercially available products, all containing 100 ppm fluoride but utilizing hydrogen peroxide, pyro-, tri- or hexametaphosphate salts and/or sodium bicarbonate. The three control mouthrinses were 100 ppm fluoride, 30 % hydrogen peroxide and deionized water. Enamel color changes (ΔE) were determined spectrophotometrically. Vickers surface microhardness (VHN) was used to determine lesion remineralization. Enamel fluoride content (EFC) was determined using the microbiopsy technique. Data were analyzed using ANOVA.

Results ΔE was significantly different among groups (p = 0.0045). Thirty percent hydrogen peroxide was superior to all other mouthrinses, while there were no differences between commercial mouthrinses and deionized water. There were small, directional but non-significant differences between commercial mouthrinses with those containing hydrogen peroxide providing better whitening. There were no significant differences between mouthrinses in their ability to remineralize caries lesions (p = 0.2898). EFC differed among groups (p < 0.0001), with the two mouthrinses containing pyrophosphate salts having lower EFC than all but the deionized water group.

Conclusions Artificially stained caries lesions show reduced susceptibility to fluoride remineralization and whitening effects of commercial whitening and anti-caries mouthrinses.

Clinical Relevance Artificially stained caries lesions appear to require stronger than over-the-counter interventions to successfully whiten and remineralizing them.