Esthetic improvements of postorthodontic white-spot lesions treated with resin infiltration and microabrasion: .

OBJECTIVE

To compare the esthetic improvement between postorthodontic white-spot lesions (WSLs) treated by resin infiltration and microabrasion for 12 months.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 20 patients with 128 teeth with postorthodontic WSLs were recruited. A simple randomized, split-mouth, positive controlled design was used to allocate patients to resin infiltration or microabrasion groups. The lesion area ratio (R value) was calculated between the area of a WSL and the labial surface of the corresponding tooth based on standardized clinical photographs. The color change (Δ) of each tooth was measured with a Crystaleye spectrophotometer (Olympus, Tokyo, Japan). Every measurement was taken before treatment (T0) and at different time points after treatment: 1 week (T1), 6 months (T6), and 12 months (T12).

RESULTS

A total of 16 patients with 108 trial teeth were available at T12. Each group had 54 trial teeth. In both groups, there was a significant decrease in R value and Δ between T1 and T0 ( < .0001). In the infiltration group, the R value and Δ had no significant changes over time from T1 to T12. In the microabrasion group, the R value and Δ decreased significantly from T1 to T6. The R value of resin infiltration was lower when compared with microabrasion at every recall point ( < .001). The Δ had no significant differences between the two groups at any timepoint.

CONCLUSIONS

Resin infiltration and microabrasion improved the esthetic appearance of WSLs and showed sufficient durability for 12 months. Resin infiltration showed a better esthetic improvement effect when compared with microabrasion at 12 months.