Chinese scientists have developed a prototype teeth-whitening powder activated by the vibrations from an electric toothbrush.
Scientists hope the findings could lead to a new, effective, and at-home treatment for safely whitening teeth and promoting oral health.
Teeth can become stained from genetic factors or from foods and drinks like tomatoes and coffee, even with regular brushing. While widely prescribed chemical whiteners help remove the stains, they are also known to damage teeth in the process.
For instance, peroxide-based bleaching gels and mouth rinses, commonly used in dental offices for whitening stained teeth, generate molecules called reactive oxygen species (ROS) that break apart stain-causing molecules, but also damage the tooth enamel.
Now, scientists have designed a powder that could both brighten and protect teeth when activated by the vibrations from an electric toothbrush.
“This work offers a safe, at-home teeth whitening strategy integrating whitening, enamel repair and microbiome balance for long-term oral health,” said Min Xing, an author of the study published in the journal ACS Nano.
The new powder generates ROS only when activated by electric toothbrush vibrations, strengthening and repairing teeth during the process.
It is made of charged particles of strontium and calcium with the compound barium titanate in a solution, heated and formed into a ceramic powder, dubbed BSCT.
When vibrated, researchers say the powder generates a small electric field similar to how quartz crystals power watches.
The electric field then causes ROS-generating chemical reactions in the powder, scientists noted.
Researchers conducted lab experiments using human teeth artificially stained with tea and coffee.
After four hours of brushing the teeth with BSCT and an electric toothbrush, visible whitening was observed.
Scientists found that treated teeth were almost 50 per cent brighter after 12 hours of brushing, compared to a control group stained in the same way but brushed with saline.
BSCT brushing also regenerated damaged enamel and dentin in some teeth as strontium, calcium and barium ions included in the powder formed deposits on the tooth surface.
Researchers also tested the powder on rats fed high-sugar diets.
Brushing for one minute over four weeks using BSCT was found to help rats restore their good oral bacteria, killing periodontitis-causing Porphyromonas gingivalis and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria.
“By overcoming the limitations of traditional teeth whitening technologies, this strategy provides a safe, home-applicable alternative for whitening, mineral repair, caries prevention, and long-term maintenance of oral health,” they wrote.
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