Effects of Whitening Dentifrice on Tooth Stain Accumulation

Objectives: A randomized controlled trial was conducted to assess the effectiveness of a whitening dentifrice to prevent stain accumulation after a dental prophylaxis.
Methods: After IRB review and consent, eligible adults with visible extrinsic stain received a dental prophylaxis. Pre-prophy stain scores were used to randomly balance and assign subjects to either 1) a whitening dentifrice (0.243 sodium fluoride) or 2) Crest® 3D White Brilliance Daily Cleansing Whitening System. Test products were dispensed to treatment in a kit with a regular soft manual toothbrush and instructions for twice-daily at-home use for 4-weeks. Stain was assessed on the facial surfaces of the anterior teeth via the Modified Lobene Stain Index before/after prophylaxis, at two and four weeks post-prophy along with clinical examinations to assess safety. Treatments were compared using a non-parametric analysis of covariance. The statistical comparisons were two-sided using a 5% level of significance.
Results: 50 subjects were enrolled (mean age = 47.1 years) and completed the four-week study. Overall Baseline (pre-prophylaxis) median was 1.65 for composite stain. After two and four weeks of assigned product use, groups did not differ significantly (p≥0.2) on stain accumulation with medians of 0.00 and 0.13 for the Whitening Dentifrice group, and medians of 0.04 and 0.09 for the Whitening System group, respectively. The Whitening Dentifrice group maintained a stain free tooth surface area of 100% and 92.5% at Weeks 2 and 4, respectively.
Conclusions: In a randomized controlled trial, use of a whitening dentifrice prevented stain accumulation after prophylaxis.