Effectiveness of light sources on in-office dental bleaching: A systematic review and meta-analyses

Objective: A systematic review and meta-analyses were performed to evaluate the efficacy of tooth color change and sensitivity of teeth following in-office bleaching with and without light gel activation in adult patients. Methods: This review was registered at PROSPERO (CRD 42017060574) and is based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Electronic systematic searches of PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library were conducted for published articles. Only randomized clinical trials among adults that compared in-office bleaching with and without light activation with the same bleaching gel concentrations were selected. The outcomes were tooth color change and tooth sensitivity prevalence and intensity. Results: Twenty-three articles from 1054 data sources met the eligibility criteria. After title and abstract screening, 39 studies remained. Sixteen studies were further excluded. Twenty-three studies remained for qualitative analyses and 20 for meta-analyses of primary and secondary outcomes. No significant differences in tooth color change or tooth sensitivity incidence were found between the compared groups; however, tooth sensitivity intensity decreased when light sources were applied. Conclusion: The use of light sources for in-office bleaching is not imperative to achieve esthetic clinical results.