The Cleaning and Whitening Ability of Charcoal Containing Toothpastes and Homeopathic Remedies on Human Tooth Enamel

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to determine the cleaning and whitening ability of two charcoal containing toothpastes compared with baking soda, activated charcoal and a hydrogen peroxide containing whitening toothpaste. Tea-stained enamel/dentin slices were mounted dentin side down in cylinders of auto-polymerizing acrylic and subjected to simulated brushing. Total color, ∆E, and stained area were measured using a reflectance spectrophotometer and ImageJ software using a Hue, Chroma, and Brightness color threshold method; respectively, at prescribed brushing intervals of baseline, months 1, 6 and 12. A two-way repeated measure analysis of variance was performed, with included factors being toothpaste group and time. Statistical analysis revealed the included factor of brushing time interval was significant (p<0.05) for both ∆E and stained area. There was significant interaction for both main effects (p<0.05) for the dependent variable of stained area alone. Significant reduction in ∆E values occurred in all groups except Optic White at the 1-month interval. Statistically significant reduction in stained area occurred at 1-month for the baking soda group only. Post-hoc Tukey HSD tests revealed there was significant group*time interaction for baking soda at month 1 for the variable stained area. The charcoal containing (Crest 3D with Charcoal and Colgate Essentials) and non-charcoal containing toothpastes (Optic White) only produced a significant stain removal at the 6-month interval.