DOI: 10.36347/sjds.2015.v02i03.009

Pages: 254-258

Abstract: The aim was to study the effects of indigenously available herbal tooth whitening product on the human enamel surface micro hardness and micro morphology. The methodology was forty enamel fragments were made from 20 extracted human teeth. The fragments were equally divided into two groups for application of a professionally prescribed bleaching agent and an indigenously available herbal tooth whitening agent. The products were applied onto the samples as per the application protocols. Micro hardness of each sample was analyzed pre and post bleaching treatment. Intra- group and inter-group comparisons were made. Two samples from each group were selected and were prepared for Scanning Electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. The images were obtained and compared to study the erosive effects of each agent. The Intra – group comparison of micro hardness values before and after treatment were analyzed using Wilcoxon signed rank test and the inter-group comparison of the micro hardness values were analyzed using Mann- Whitney U test. The level of significance was set as 0.05 and p values less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The results showed that there existed no statistically significant difference in the micro hardness of the enamel specimen at baseline among both the groups, there was a statistically significant reduction in the micro hardness level in both post 14 days treatment. The fall in the micro hardness value in group A was 19.80 and that for group B was 35.31. The SEM images of the samples from both the group showed similar type of erosions. The present study showed that an indigenous herbal based tooth whitening system, marketed as an over the counter product produced similar changes in the enamel surface micro hardness and micro morphology comparable to that of a professionally prescribed bleaching agent.