Fluorinex Whitening development
Fluorinex is currently in the middle of the process of developing methods and devices for whitening teeth, one for home-use and another for professional-use at the dentist's clinic.
The methods are based on Fluorinex' unique technology, using the similar system as used for the company's Fluorination application process.
Results indications of laboratory tests conducted on extracted teeth up to now show a significant efficacy advantage over the compared existing and practiced methods in the market, in terms of:
- Shorter duration of treatment
- Minimal number of treatments
- Better convenience conditions for the patient/user
- Using percentage of active ingredients similar to others
- Achieving close to 100% of shade degrees brightening
The status of the activities is as follows:
- Completed very successful tests of "proof of concept"
- Selected the applicable formula of gel in terms of effectiveness and toxicity
- Comleted the design of the prototype device to be used in each application
- Listed & registered for CE mark /FDA clearance
- In preparations of an In-Vivo Clinical Trial
About Whitening
Preface
Teeth Whitening issue has accelerated in recent years and there is a significant development in this field. The modern dentistry is able to provide suitable answers to this subject, and there are a number of categories which include different methods of clarifications of teeth.
Color of the teeth
The color of the teeth is contingent upon a number of factors such as: Quality of the tissue, amount of tissue and the relations between tissues that form the tooth. The teeth pigment tend to get darker with the advance in age, and also the discoloration or either staining can occur during life as a result of external and inner factors.
External factors
There are many external factors of staining that are resultant mainly from entrance of the color through cracks in the enamel. Prevalent examples are: Smoking, coffee, tea, number of types of mouth rinsing, wine and more.
Even without penetration of the enamel, staining can take place by the factors mentioned above and by Chromogen Bacteria (Coloring bacteria).
External staining can be caused also as a result of penetration of the color through the margins of reconstructions in the color of the tooth ("white fillings") hence causing the discoloration.
Inner factors
Inner factors of staining could be genetic, nativities, acquired or medicinal.
The use of antibiotic of the Tetracycline type by mothers during pregnancy and by children under the age of 8 causes gray stains which is very difficult to treat.
An excessive intake of Fluorine causes as well hard staining named Fluorosis (fluorine poisoning). The severance of the staining depends on the dosage used.
A very common reason to the occurrence of staining is of teeth after root canal treatment (in some of the cases) or teeth that had Spontaneous death (mainly as a result of being hit).
Shade of teeth VS darkness scale
Naturally there exists in a wide range of shades of teeth. It is customary to characterize the shades in a scale between A and D, from white to gray / pinkish:
A - Brown
B - Yellow
C - Gray
D - Red / Gray
Each indicated shade is scaled between 1 and 4 degrees of darkness. It's very important to point out that through the action of the clarification of teeth it is not possible to change the basic shade, but rather only the degree of the dental darkness. Therefore, the concept of "teeth whitening", which was stereotyped in the public, is an explicit deception!
Gray teeth will never change to be white. Dentifrices that pretend to whiten teeth have at their best only a slight influence on the degree of the darkness of the original shade. In case that someone wants to change the basic shade, the action taken is coating of the tooth with composite material or porcelain, and at times even with a crown.
All clarification activities are based on the use of oxidizing materials which are able to penetrate the enamel, and dismantle the double contacts of the color / pigment molecules, resulting in its neutralization.
In order to amplify the chances of success in clarification of teeth, one has to diagnose accurately the fundamental reason or the factor of the discoloration of the tooth, prior to implementation of the clarification process.
It should be emphasized that even when the diagnosis is correct, none of the treatment methods guaranties a 100% success, although on the other hand in case of a correct implementation of the clarification, the phenomena of side effects and risks are minimal, and therefore it's worth trying it.
Whiteners
Whiteners are formulated with extra abrasives, or with hydrogen peroxide or other bleaching agents. According to dental color scales, some OTC whiteners can whiten teeth up to eight shades, compared to dentists' bleaching systems that can whiten by up to twelve shades. Some whiteners are formulated for just this purpose, and can be called "dedicated"; while whitening tooth cleaners are multifunction products that both clean and whiten.
Dedicated Whiteners
As mentioned, products intended principally for whitening, as opposed to cleaning or any other function may be called "dedicated whiteners." These take the form of plastic strips, liquids, pastes, pens, or entire multistep kits that may include mouth guards and trays holding bleaching solution. Kits typically also include a polish, plus maintenance toothpaste. But single-step dedicated whiteners are the niche's stars: P&G's Crest WhiteStrips - by now much extended, and much imitated - was the pioneering strip-type product when it was launched in 2000.
A very few dedicated whitener kits work by causing photochemical reactions in the mouth; these kits include special battery-operated lights.
Dedicated whiteners go head-to-head with toothpastes or gels that are co-positioned on cleaning and whitening, if not on other functions, as well. Whitening toothpastes offer convenience; one simply replaces one's usual toothpaste with a whitening version, for a couple of weeks, or even a few days. Milder whitening toothpastes may be safe for use on an ongoing basis.