Whitening dentifrice and tooth surface discoloration—A systematic review and meta‐analysis

In this review, nearly all dentifrices that are specifically formulated for tooth whitening were shown to have a beneficial effect in reducing External Tooth Discolouration, irrespective of whether or not a chemical discoloration agent was added.

Only WAD and 3DW showed whitening performance after the first use . The greatest whitening performance after continuous use was obtained by WAD, followed by LWA and 3DW. The use of conventional toothpaste (TA) promotes no tooth whitening.

Clinical relevance: Microbead abrasives (3DW) and blue covarine (WAD) were the active technology tested that presented the best global tooth whitening performance.

Whitening toothpastes containing oxidants or enzymes chemically modify pigments adhered to the teeth, reducing the
intensity and appearance of discoloration.

Optical modifying toothpastes contain pigments such as blue covarine, which act to shift the apparent color of teeth by depositing a thin, semi transparent film of bluish pigment on the dental surface. This film instantly modifies the interaction of incident light resulting in teeth that appear whiter and brighter.

Recently, activated charcoal/carbon has attracted interest because it acts in a high surface area and consequently has the capacity of adsorbing pigments, chromophores and stains responsible for the color change of teeth.

The toothpastes used in this study are as follows

TA (control) Colgate Tripla Ação - Colgate - Brazil Traditional abrasive

B&W -Black & White - Curaprox - Switzerland Activated charcoal, enzymes and optical pigment

WAD - Close Up White Attraction Diamond - Unilever Optical pigment (blue covarine)

LWA - Colgate Luminous White Advance - Colgate - Brazil Hydrogen peroxide

3DW - Oral B 3D White PerfectionTM - Procter & Gamble - Brazil Microbead abrasives

XW4D - Sorriso Xtreme White 4D - Colgate - Brazil Optimized abrasives