The Effect of an Experimental Gel Based on Acmella Oleracea Extract in Reducing Post-bleaching Tooth Sensitivity

For the assessment of postoperative sensitivity, patients were instructed to fill out a form to record tooth sensitivity daily, during the 21 days of treatment, based on individual pain perception. This form was delivered at each bleaching session, being returned to the researcher in the following session, that is, always one week after each bleaching session. The evaluation form consisted of the visual analogue scale (VAS). This scale consists of a 10 cm horizontal line, with scores of 0 and 10 at its ends, where 0 means no sensitivity and 10 means severe tooth sensitivity. The patient was instructed to draw a vertical line along the horizontal line of the scale, recording the intensity of tooth sensitivity per day. So that the distance in millimeters from the zero end could be later measured with the aid of a millimeter ruler, thus obtaining the patient's level of pain intensity.

The VITA Easyshade spectrophotometer (VITA Zahnfabrik, Bad Säckingen, Germany) was used to measure the color, where the area of dental correspondence to be evaluated was the middle third of the buccal surface of the upper canines. To standardize the color readings, silicone trays were made, where the impression was extended from canine to canine. A window was created on the buccal surface of each canine of the silicone guide using a metal device with a 6 mm radius, corresponding to the diameter of the spectrophotometer tip. Thus, the tip of the device was inserted into the silicone guide to obtain the color parameters. Subsequently, the color difference between baseline (T i ) and one week after the 3rd bleaching session (T f ) was calculated using the CIEDE2000 formulas (ΔE00).