Influence of surface treatments on enamel susceptibility to staining by cigarette smoke

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of remineralizing agents, including artificial saliva, neutral fluoride, and casein phosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate (CPP-ACP), on the susceptibility of bleached enamel to staining by cigarette smoke. Study Design: Fifty bovine enamel blocks were randomly divided into five groups (n = 10): G1- bleaching; G2- bleaching and immersion in artificial saliva; G3- bleaching and application of CPP-ACP; G4- bleaching and application of neutral fluoride; and G5- untreated (Control). Teeth were bleached with 35% hydrogen peroxide and treated with the appropriate remineralizing agent. After treatment, all groups were exposed to cigarette smoke. Enamel color measurements were performed at three different times: before treatment (T1), after treatment (bleaching and remineralizing agent) (T2), and after staining (T3), by using the CIE Lab method with a spectrophotometer. The data coordinate L* was evaluated by analysis of repeated-measures PROC MIXED and Tukey-Kramer’s test, and the ΔE values were submitted to one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s test (α = 0.05). Results: The G1 group did not show any statistically significant difference for L* values between times T1 and T2. The G4 and G5 groups showed lower L* values at T3 compared to T2. No significant differences between the groups were observed for ΔE (after treatment and staining). However, G4 showed a clinically apparent color change. Conclusions: Treatment of bleached enamel with neutral fluoride can contribute to the increased staining of enamel due to cigarette smoke. Key words:Spectrophotometer, remineralizing agents, bleaching.