Effectiveness and Adverse Effects of Dental Bleaching with 10-16% vs. 30-37% Carbamide Peroxide: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Bleaching one's teeth is a less invasive alternative to getting aesthetic related work done. Although bleaching is safe when in contact with teeth and related tissues, some are still worried about its potential side effects. It is stated that the bleaching procedure must be employed according to a particular diagnostic, taking into consideration various aspects such as the following: kind of discoloration, condition of teeth produced by food, quantity of reagents used, age, kind of reactions to chemical compounds used, and time it is applied. A systematic literature review from 2012 to 2022 was performed using databases such as PubMed, Medline and ScienceDirect. The keywords used were "bleaching", "carbamide peroxide", "10% carbamide peroxide", "30% carbamide peroxide". Some studies reported 10-16% carbamide peroxide to be effective, whereas some stated otherwise. Some studies showed that using 35% CP bleaching gels had no effect on the surface roughness of composite resin. The result reveals that 10 and 16% are more effective than the 37% concentration in one week of treatment. Low concentration is enough to produced good results without the risk of any adverse effects. Both ranges of carbamide peroxide concentrations resulted in color change. However, high concentration often led to surface roughness that may support S. mutans deposition. Low concentration is enough to produced good results without the risk of any adverse effects.

In Vitro Color Stability of Bleached Teeth Using Peroxide-Free Bleaching Gel, Carbamide Peroxide and Hydrogen Peroxide

“…Moreover, Alrashoud et al (2022) have reported that different concentrations of carbamide peroxide can lead to different levels of peroxide leakage, suggesting that saturation effects may occur at higher concentrations [18]. Santana et al (2021) have noted that enamel opacity increase due to HP action is a signi cant factor in the bleaching effect, which could explain why increasing concentrations beyond 16% may not enhance e cacy proportionally [19].…”