Clinical comparison of the effectiveness of three prophylactic toothpastes in removing dental stains

Introduction
Any change in tooth colour to a different colour than natural is considered as discolouration. There are three main types of discoloration: external, internal, and indirect (a combination of the first two). External discolorations are caused by external factors and appear on the surface of the tooth’s clinical crown. Objectives: The objective of the double-blind clinical study was to compare the efficacy in extrinsic tooth stain removal of three commercially available dentifrices.

Material and methods
In research, the following products were used: CleanPolish (Kerr), Detartrine (Septo¬dont), and Cleanic (Kerr). The research included a questionnaire and a preliminary study containing a diagram and shortened Lobene Stain Index. The questionnaire contained questions about the habits predisposing to the formation of deposits. Determination of intensity and extent of deposits was made before and after the teeth cleaning procedure. Afterwards, the data was taken and analysed, and the effectiveness of different products was compared. Only anterior teeth were taken into consideration (shortened Lobene Stain Index). The research was conducted with a double-blind method.

Results
All tested dentifrices were well-tolerated. Detartrine was the most effective in removing deposits. However, none of the tested pastes removed stains completely.

Conclusions
The dentifrices used in the study showed similar effectiveness despite the differences in RDA value and the same clinical conditions, which justifies the need in the subsequent steps of the study of usage of a more sensitive and specific modified stain index (MSI).