Copper-zinc superoxide dismutase activity in normal and inflamed human dental pulp tissue

Tooth whiteners are considered as cosmetic agents to be used for bleaching teeth. Since tooth whitener may be swallowed during the whitening procedure, studies were conducted to determine whether ingestion of tooth whitener containing carbamide peroxide resulted in toxic effects. Adult female rats were used, and vaginal smears were examined daily to determine whether the animals were ovulating. Following an overnight fast, a single bolus of a commercial tooth whitener (5 g of tooth whitener/kg fasting body weight) was administered by gavage. Control rats received de-ionized water. After 2 h, mean respirations per min of animals receiving the tooth whitener Quik Start (contains 35% carbamide peroxide) decreased from 169 to 55, and body temperature decreased from 38.4 to 34 degrees C. Other distress signs included: labored breathing, loss of righting reflex, partial eye closure, bloody urine, and incontinence. Three of 22 animals (3/22) died within 48 h, of gastric hemorrhaging. Eight/10 rats stopped ovulating. At necropsy 2 weeks post-dosing, 10/19 animals had grossly bloated stomachs, and mucosal necrosis was observed histologically in 3. Animals receiving White & Brite or Nu-Smile (containing 10 or 15% carbamide peroxide, respectively) exhibited similar but milder symptoms. The data indicate that ingestion of large doses of commercial preparations of tooth whiteners may be acutely toxic, sometimes fatal, to female laboratory rats.

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“…Normally, the body has protective mechanisms for removal of free radicals and H202 (Fridovich, 1979;Davis et al, 1991).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acute Toxicological Effects of Ingested Tooth Whiteners in Female Rats

Cherry¹,

Bowers²,

Thomas

et al. 1993

J Dent Res

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“…26 Normal oral soft tissues, including dental pulp, contain SOD, and the level of activity is typically increased in inflamed tissues. 27 Catalase is highly effective at preventing cellular damage from hydrogen peroxide. Catalase applied following the intracoronal application of concentrated hydrogen peroxide during bleaching procedures has been shown to eliminate residual hydrogen peroxide within three minutes.…”

Section: The Chemical Reactions Of Hydrogen Peroxidementioning

confidence: 99%

Safety issues relating to the use of hydrogen peroxide in dentistry

Walsh

2000

Australian Dental Journal

122

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Hydrogen peroxide is used widely in professionally and self-administered products. Hydrogen peroxide is a highly reactive substance which can damage oral soft tissues and hard tissues when present in high concentrations and with exposures of prolonged duration. This report provides an overview of health issues relating to the use of hydrogen peroxide, with an emphasis on safety with prolonged exposure to low concentrations of peroxide products. There is good evidence for the safety of hydrogen peroxide when used at low concentrations on a daily basis over extended periods of time, in self-administered oral health care products such as dentifrices and mouthrinses. These low concentrations neither damage oral hard or soft tissues, nor do they pose a significant risk of adverse long-term effects. Caution should be exercised with the increasingly higher concentration peroxide products used for 'walking' or 'power' bleaching due to the possibility of chemical irritation of oral soft tissues with injudicious use. The volumes of material and application times should be controlled carefully. Thorough education of patients is particularly important with self-applied gels because of the lack of professional supervision with such products. Such education is part of the duty of care of the dentist who supplies bleaching gels for at-home use.

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“…Inflammatory change in the dental pulp has been evaluated over time (Davis et al . 1991, Barkhordar et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many cell mediators such as interleukins (Hosoya & Matsushima 1997, Barkhordar et al . 1999) and enzymes (Davis et al . 1991, Tulunoglu et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%