Objective: To evaluate the preferences of general dentists regarding vital and non-vital tooth bleaching therapies and to investigate whether the time of clinical practice influences these options.
Material&Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 200 Palestinian dentists. Options regarding bleaching therapies including the first choice of material, technique and clinical practice for vital and non-vital tooth bleaching therapies were included in the 20 item questionnaire. Data were submitted to descriptive analysis and the associations were evaluated using chi-square test (p<0.05).
Results: The response rate was 56.7%. In-office therapy (50.9%) was the preferred treatment of choice for the dentists, followed by a combination of in-office and at-home therapies (29.8%); At home therapies were the least preferred (19.3%). Hydrogen peroxide more than 22% was the preferred treatment of choice for vital bleaching therapy (57.9%), whereas the combination of sodium perborate with water or hydrogen peroxide (46.5%) was the preferred treatment of choice for non-vital bleaching. There was a significant association between the time since graduation and the preference for in-office bleaching (P=0.01) and no significant association between the time since graduation and the material used.
Conclusion: In-office bleaching was preferred over at-home therapies; HP >22% and sodium perborate with water or HP were chosen as first treatment options to manage discolored vital and non-vital teeth, respectively. The time in clinical practice had an effect only on the choice of vital bleaching technique.
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