Blue Covarine Toothpaste versus Office Whitening: Which is the Most Effective on Stained Teeth?

Alternative whitening strategies to hydrogen peroxide have been proposed, such as the inclusion of abrasive and/or pigmented particles in the toothpaste. This study compared the whitening effectiveness of a toothpaste containing Blue Covarine (BC) vs. an in-office whitening treatment using 35% hydrogen peroxide (HP) in teeth stained. Bovine incisors blocks (6.0x6.0x2.0 mm) were stained with green tea (GT), orange soda (OS), or red wine (RW). The samples were randomly assigned into 8 groups (n=15), according to the type of staining and whitening treatment: G1 ­ no staining, BC (Control); G2 ­ no staining, HP (Control); G3 ­ GT, BC; G4 ­ GT, HP; G5 ­ OS, BC; G6 ­ OS, HP; G7 ­ RW, BC; G8 ­ RW, HP. Color change (ΔE), luminosity (L*), green-red axis (a*), and blue-yellow axis (b*) were recorded with spectroscopy at T0 ­ baseline, T1 ­ immediately after toothbrushing or in office tooth whitening, and T2 ­ after the conclusion of the treatments. The whiteness index for dentistry (WID) was calculated. Data were analyzed by two-way repeated measured mixed ANOVA and Bonferroni test (α=0.05). HP showed a better whitening performance (ΔE) (p ≤ 0.042). Otherwise, no effects of the whitening agent were observed (p = 1.000). Data from ΔL, Δa, and Δb showed statistically significant differences for experimental groups (p < 0.001). In the WID analysis, BC and HP had similar effects within control and RW groups. In conclusion, blue covarine toothpaste may be a viable option for extrinsically stained teeth. However, for severe staining, HP-based whitening agents proved to be the most effective treatment strategy. (AU)