Tooth bleaching (carbamide or hydrogen peroxide; home and/or in-office) vs No bleaching (untreated control): Colour change / camouflage of white spot lesions (reduction of colour disparity between carious and sound enamel)
- Population
- Permanent teeth with post-orthodontic white spot lesions (orthodontic patients and in vitro enamel specimens)
- Intervention
- Tooth bleaching (carbamide or hydrogen peroxide; home and/or in-office)
- Comparison
- No bleaching (untreated control)
- Outcome
- Colour change / camouflage of white spot lesions (reduction of colour disparity between carious and sound enamel)
Bleaching may diminish colour disparities and camouflage post-orthodontic white spot lesions, but the certainty of the evidence is very low; the findings could neither support nor refute bleaching.
What each review found
Current versions only| Finding | Effect | Studies | GRADE certainty |
|---|---|---|---|
Tooth bleaching (carbamide or hydrogen peroxide; home and/or in-office) vs No bleaching (untreated control) Colour change / camouflage of white spot lesions (reduction of colour disparity between carious and sound enamel) · Permanent teeth with post-orthodontic white spot lesions (orthodontic patients and in vitro enamel specimens) · Orthodontic patients (Knösel 2007 RCT, Germany) and in vitro laboratory studies Bleaching may diminish colour disparities and camouflage post-orthodontic white spot lesions, but the certainty of the evidence is very low; the findings could neither support nor refute bleaching. Is Bleaching Effective in Managing Post-orthodontic White-spot Lesions? A Systematic Review. (2020) All outcomes | The results showed that bleaching of WSL can diminish colour disparities between carious and non-affected areas, but the certainty of the evidence was very low. | 3 studies | GRADE not reported |
Findings are shown side by side, never pooled across reviews.
The reviews
| Review | Searched up to | Included studies | AMSTAR 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Is Bleaching Effective in Managing Post-orthodontic White-spot Lesions? A Systematic Review. 2020 All outcomes | 2018-07-01 | 15 | Low / Critically Low |
Studies behind the findings
The primary studies the full-text reviews tie to this outcome. Reviews with headline outcomes only do not list them here.
- Bleaching Effects on Color, Chemical, and Mechanical Properties of White Spot Lesions · 2016 · included by 1 of these review
- External Bleaching Effect on the Color and Luminosity of Inactive White-Spot Lesions after Fixed Orthodontic Appliances · 2007 · included by 1 of these review
How reviews are matched to this question
Reviews word the same question differently. Four decision models (TypeSafe's Jev, Liquid AI's d1-ultra, SubQ Snap and Baseten's Elephant) judged each wording of the population, intervention, comparator and outcome against the others; two wordings count as the same when at least three of them agree and none clearly disagrees, and findings count as this question only when all four elements match. Timing, setting and subgroup never split a question: they are shown on each finding.