Development of a piezoelectric ultrasonic tooth-whitening apparatus

Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop an ultrasonic tooth-whitening apparatus using piezoelectric transducers, which enhance bleaching efficiency by applying ultrasound, while performing a teeth whitening procedure. For this purpose, an ultrasonic transducer was designed and manufactured, and the effects of reduction in the whitening material's concentration and in the whitening treatment time through using the ultrasound cavitation phenomenon were confirmed. Also, the validity of this study was investigated by comparing the whitening performance with a commercialized optical whitener, through color comparison. The results revealed that the ultrasound whitener produced color values that were enhanced by as much as double that of the conventional LED light whitening method. Even when the operational time was reduced by half, the ultrasound method showed superior performance by over 54% compared to the conventional light whitener, revealing that the ultrasound method showed a remarkable treatment reduction effect. © 2013 KIEEME. All rights reserved.