Background: White spot lesions (WSLs) are characterized by mineral loss beneath an intact surface layer of enamel giving a whitish appearance. They constitute a common problem that may impair the esthetics.
Aim of the study: Spectrophotometric evaluation of color change of induced artificial WSLs treated with three different approaches.
Materials and Methods: Artificial WSLs were created in the enamel of thirty sound human premolars using demineralizing solution, then, they were randomly assigned to three groups; group (A); treated with bleaching followed by resin infiltration (RI), group (B); treated with microabrasion followed by RI; and group (C); treated with RI alone. After treatment, thermocycling was executed with 50000 cycles. Specimens were evaluated for color changes using spectrophotometer at baseline, after demineralization, after treatment and after thermocycling. Analysis of the results was executed by one way ANOVA followed by Tukey's post hoc tests.
Results: Group (A) exhibited the highest esthetic improvement, immediately after treatment (∆E= 1.55), followed by group (B) (∆E= 1.93), while the highest color change values were recorded in group (C) (∆E= 2.46). Similar results were obtained after thermocycling with ∆E= 1.87, 2.48 and 3.24 respectively. The differences between the three groups, after treatment and after thermocycling, were statistically significant (p <0.0001)
Conclusion: WSLs treated with bleaching followed by resin infiltration exhibited superior improvement in color matching immediately and after ageing procedure.