Effect of Surface Cleaning on Maxillary Anterior Tooth Shade

Objectives: To investigate the effect of professional dental prophylaxis (supragingival tooth surface cleaning) on tooth color of maxillary anterior teeth using the Vita Classical Shade guide.
Methods: The studies were approved by the appropriate IRB. Three separate and independent studies were conducted in two separate geographic locations. Male and female subjects between the ages of 18 to 70 with average ≥A3 Vita Classical shade (VCS; Bad Säckingen, Germany) on 6 maxillary anterior teeth were enrolled in each study (80, 128, and 77). Subjects with presence of orthodontic appliances, cavities, or any maxillary anterior teeth with a prosthetic crown or veneer were excluded from the study. Tooth shade was determined at baseline (BL) and seven (7) days post-cleaning (PC) using the VCS. After BL measurements, all subjects received a professionally administered supragingival dental prophylaxis for the maxillary anterior teeth. Extreme care was given not to cause gingival bleeding while rendering cleaning. Subjects were then provided with a commercially available non-whitening toothpaste and a soft-bristle adult toothbrush to use at home using their normal hygiene practices for seven days at which time they returned for their post-cleaning measurements. A comparison of the BL and PC VCS scores was performed using a paired t-test with a two-sided level of significance of a = 0.05.
Results: Mean VCS scores for BL and PC for the three studies were 10.82±2.08 and 10.81±2.08; 11.51±2.03 and 11.49±2.04; and 12.36±2.04 and 12.33±2.01, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences between the mean VCS scores for BL and PC in any of the studies.
Conclusions: Supragingival dental prophylaxis does not have any impact on the mean tooth color using Vita Classical Shade scores of maxillary anterior teeth.