COMPARISON OF WHITENING TOOTHPASTES ON ENAMEL ROUGHNESS AND MICRO-HARDNESS - AN INVITRO STUDY

Objective: The growing demand for an enhanced aesthetic appearance has led to the development of whitening products in the market. The whitening effects are usually achieved by incorporation of bleaching and abrasive components. An ideal whitening toothpaste should remove stains effectively, with minimal effect on tooth structure. This study was done to evaluate the effects of different whitening toothpaste on enamel roughness and micro hardness. 24 human premolar Methodology: teeth were collected for this study and then randomly divided into 3 groups (n=8) Group I: Whitening toothpaste containing peroxide, Group II: Whitening toothpaste containing abrasives, Group III: Regular toothpaste. Tooth brushing was performed for 30 days and then subjected to surface roughness (Ra) and micro hardness test. There were statistically signicant differences in e Results: namel roughness which had increased after 1 month equivalent tooth brushing between three groups. There were signicant differences in enamel micro hardness values for all groups which showed a decrease in micro hardness. Brushing teeth with whitening toothpaste for an extended period of time Conclusion: increases enamel roughness and decreases enamel micro hardness, increasing the risk of caries.