Evaluation of the efficacy of LED-laser treatment and control of tooth sensitivity during in-office bleaching procedures.

Abstract

This study determined the efficacy of LED-laser treatment and the control of sensitivity caused by in-office bleaching. Auxiliary power sources (halogen light, arc plasma, LED, LED-laser, and laser) are used in in-office teeth bleaching techniques to accelerate the redox reaction of the whitening gel to increase ease of use, to improve comfort and safety, and to decrease the procedure time. Sixteen volunteers participated in this randomized, blinded and split-mouth clinical study. The volunteers were divided into two groups: GL, activation with LED; and GLL, activation with LED-laser (300 mW/cm2). The upper and lower arches were bleached in accordance with each treatment. Tooth sensitivity was recorded by a verbal pain scale and the color analysis was evaluated by the VITA scale, up to 6 months after bleaching. Tooth sensitivity and color change were compared between groups at each time period using the Wilcoxon and NcNemar tests. The sensitivity and color within the same group at different periods were analyzed using the Friedman test or Cochran's Q test. The intensity of sensitivity was similar for both groups at different periods, with no statistical difference between them (p>0.05). There were no significant differences in the color change comparing the two techniques (p>0.05); however, it was significant within each group at the different evaluation periods between the groups (p<0.05). LED-laser treatment was not able to prevent or reduce the sensitivity of teeth and did not improve the efficacy of bleaching.