Urmila Sachin Mense’s research while affiliated with Manipal Academy of Higher Education and other places

Objectives This study compared the whitening effect, microhardness, and enamel surface alterations of over-the-counter (OTC) tooth bleaching products with those of a dentist-prescribed at-home bleaching agent. Materials and methods The products available on a popular online marketplace were comprehensively searched and then rated using a specific formula. The effects of the lowest-rated OTC agent (LRA) and the highest-rated OTC agent (HRA) were compared with those of a dentist-prescribed bleaching agent (DPA) on the enamel of extracted human teeth. The bleaching efficacy, post-bleaching microhardness changes, and morphological alterations were assessed by spectrophotometric analysis, Vickers hardness testing, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) respectively. Statistical analyses included one-way ANOVA and post hoc tests, maintaining a significance level of P < 0.05. Results The search of the online marketplace revealed 15 products. The LRA (Teeth Whitening Serum Gel, GEN, China) and the HRA (Bright White-Lovely Smile Premium Teeth Whitening strips, Ray of Smile, USA) were identified on the basis of their ranking. DPA resulted in significantly better tooth whitening than did LRA. The enamel microhardness was lower in the LRA treatment group (14.2%) than in the control and HRA treatment groups (8.84% and 7.26%, respectively). LRA also caused severe topographical alterations to the enamel. Conclusion Compared with the poorly rated product, the dentist-prescribed tooth bleaching product resulted in greater colour improvement, less microhardness reduction, and surface changes. The highest-rated product was comparable with the dentist-prescribed agent in this study.

Objectives: This study aimed to compile and evaluate over-the-counter (OTC) toothwhitening products from a prominent e-marketplace, assessing their bleaching effectiveness and impact on enamel. Methodology: Thirty-eight intact tooth sections were randomly divided into three groups: Group I, the positive control, was treated with a dentist-prescribed bleaching agent (DPA) (Opalescence, Ultradent, USA); Groups II and III were treated with the lowest-rated (LRA) and highest-rated (HRA) e-market bleaching agents, respectively. Ten samples per group were subjected to spectrophotometric analysis for bleaching efficacy, ten for postbleaching microhardness, and two per group for morphological evaluation through scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Statistical analyses included one-way ANOVA, post hoc tests, and Student’s t tests, maintaining a significance level of P <0.05. Results: The e-commerce search revealed 15 e-market products out of which most of them lacked usage instructions and comprehensive composition information. DPA exhibited superior tooth whitening, in contrast with the poorly rated online agent, which showed asignificantly lower degree of color change (P=0.007). Microhardness was significantly lower in the LRA treatment group (14.2%) than in the control and HRA treatment groups (8.84% and 7.26%, respectively) (P >0.05). Furthermore, LRA caused severe topographical alterations to the enamel. Conclusion: e-portal OTC teeth whitening products lackvital information, while dentist-prescribed products outperform LRA products in terms of efficacy and enamel preservation. Clinical relevance: Patients’ inclination toward easily accessible online products, particularly from platforms such asAmazon, may result in overuse and consequential deleterious effects on dental tissues.