Application of Titanium Dioxide Nanotubes to Tooth Whitening

Abstract

The titanium oxide nanotube (TNT) is a novel high-functional material with photocatalytic performance inherent to titanium oxide improved by combining the diverse properties of the specific nanotube structure and titanium oxide crystal. Basic research was conducted on TNT for its application as a dental bleaching agent.TNT was chemically synthesized, and the amount of generated radicals was determined by the ESR method. In addition, the oxidation-reduction reaction on UV irradiation was investigated using methylene blue to examine photocatalytic properties. As a result, TNT generated a larger amount of radicals than TiO₂, and showed improved photocatalytic properties. Furthermore, a bleaching experiment was conducted using a colored enamel model. Then, sufficient bleaching effects were demonstrated with visible light, suggesting the potential application of TNT to dental bleaching.