Teeth whitening products are entering the market at a rapid clip, and it’s a competitive market. Consumers, believing that whiter teeth will improve their social and professional impressions along with their self-esteem, are looking for products that are effective, affordable and easy to use. At CPT, we can support your teeth lightening product by designing and conducting clinical trials to assess its efficacy, to help you create reasonable user expectations for improved customer satisfaction, and to support your product claims with expert analysis of objective data.
Whitening vs. Bleaching
Although these terms are sometimes mistaken as interchangeable, whitening and bleaching are quite different. Teeth whitening refers to brightening the appearance of teeth by the removal of yellow and brown stains from the surface of the tooth enamel, returning teeth to their natural color. Whitening cannot, however, remove “intrinsic” stains below the surface of the tooth enamel. Teeth bleaching, on the other hand, is intended to break apart stains below the surface of the tooth enamel and can even lighten teeth beyond their natural shade if desired. To correct white spots on the teeth, teeth must be bleached to match the spots, as whitening will not lighten the tooth beyond its natural color.
Evaluating color
Effective use of a teeth whitening product at home can lighten teeth by about three to four shades over about two weeks; a take-home bleaching kit from the dentist, about four to seven shades over the same period. Professional, in-office light-activated bleaching can lighten teeth by up to 10 shades in as little as an hour.
For the best appearance, a prominent cosmetic dentist once advised that bleachers should aim for a color that matches the whites of their eyes. While this could be good advice, objective and reliable color assessments can be made only by sophisticated instrumentation.
In teeth-whitening clinical trials at CPT, we measure the color of teeth objectively with the VITA Easyshade®V, an industry standard in dental instrumentation. This handheld electronic device provides instant readings that correlate with shade-identified samples on the VITA Bleachedguide 3D-Master® shade deck. The deck demonstrates 29 shades of color for bleached and unbleached teeth. Using these companion devices together eliminates the risk of subjective color assessments, making your trial data reliably objective.
Clinical Trials
For any product, teeth lightening clinical trials require careful vetting of panelists. Very detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria will ensure, generally, that all panelists have healthy teeth and gums, proper oral hygiene, no crowns or veneers on the incisors and canine teeth, and a recent professional cleaning. Other criteria will vary depending on the goals and protocol for the trial.
Teeth lightening trials take time, beginning with a conditioning phase of at least two weeks for panelists, continuing through active trial of the product for up to two weeks, initial data collection, and perhaps follow-ups a few months or up to a year later. Planning is essential, and our investigators have the expertise to help you through the process from start to finish, then deliver a thorough analysis of your data.
To learn more about teeth lightening studies at CPT or to begin planning for your clinical trial, please contact our Account Managers at sales@cptclabs.com.
