Natural Approaches to Whiten the Dental Enamel Surface Versus the Conventional Approaches

Abstract

To the public majority, teeth whitening and appearance is crucial and affect their esthetic qualities. Despite that, in many cultures, home remedies been employed for teeth whitening, there is dearth of solid scientific evidence regarding their effectiveness. This study was conducted aiming to characterize and formulate some of these remedies and to compare their teeth whitening effect to conventional teeth whitening toothpaste after tooth brushing at one and six months’ intervals. Cocos nucifera L. (Coconut) oil, along with the alcoholic extracts of Salvia officinalis L. (Sage) herb, Curcuma longa L. (Turmeric) rhizomes, Psidium guajava L. (Guava) leaves, Citrus limon L. (Lemon) fruits peels and Fragaria ananassa Duchesne (Strawberry) fruits were separately used to prepare toothpastes. The oil and extracts were subjected to GC and HPLC-MS/MS respectively. The formulated toothpastes were of different colors, smooth in nature, foamability around 10, pH-8.2 and extrudability 95%. The best formulations were of S. officinalis (SO), C. longa (CL) and C. nucifera (CN), therefore, their corresponding toothpastes were further investigated. 20 extracted premolars were selected based on orthodontic reasons, randomly distributed into four groups and evaluated using CIELAB measurement system at base line before brushing T0 and after brushing for one month T1 and six months T2. SO showed color changes ( E > 3.3) which can be easily observed clinically. Therefore, it could be concluded that SO toothpaste was effective in changing the color of dental enamel with results comparable to those of the conventional toothpaste.