The color of the teeth occupies one of the leading places in the aesthetic perception of the patient's appearance. A white smile is considered the key to success in both personal and professional careers. Possibilities of modern dentistry allow eliminating almost any congenital or acquired aesthetic defects of hard tissues of tooth. The range of modern non-invasive dentistry restoration services also includes the effect on the change of existing tooth color. It is known that discolorations of hard tissues of the tooth are often accompanied by various diseases of the maxillofacial area, diseases of other organs and systems. The latest dental whitening technologies are at the forefront of dentistry, but there is no ambiguity in the treatment of both patients and dentists. The purpose of our study was to find out the patients and dentists’ motivation for the teeth whitening procedure with the help of a questionnaire, which was attended by 100 dentists and 101 patients. Material and methods. Of the total number of patients (101 people), 76.24% were related to the medical specialty (doctors, students, interns, nurses) and 23.76% of people were of other professions. The age of the respondents ranged from 19 to 50 years. Comparative statistical analysis using Student's t-test revealed no significant difference in the age of the respondents, which allowed us to further compare the attitudes of individuals in both groups to the teeth whitening process. Results and discussion. We also developed a questionnaire to study the attitude of dentists to different types of teeth whitening. In total, 100 dentists participated in the interactive survey: 51 individuals (51%) worked in state hospitals and 49 individuals (49%) worked in private clinics. The distribution of survey participants in the groups was approximately the same, which allowed a more objective assessment of the questionnaire in the groups of dental practitioners. We must state that most state hospitals specialists only follow the manufacturer's instructions, and private doctors work professionally; complications in the form of hyperesthesia were observed in some cases during 2-7 days. When assigning home methods, doctors recorded the development of complications, but could not indicate the percentage of complications recorded. The unanimous opinion of the experts was the appointment of hyperesthesia desensitizers, professional fluoridating preparations, as well as fluoride-containing toothpastes and rinses. It was found out that most dentists had positive attitude towards teeth whitening. Specialists with experience from 1 to 10 years were interested and actively practice professional teeth whitening. Dental practitioners in the state hospitals were more negative about this procedure, which is most likely due to the inadequate material and technical base of public institutions. Conclusion. The results of the questionnaire survey of patients, depending on the age and profession of the respondents, give reason to think that a teeth whitening procedure is promising, and hope that the improvement of the procedure and preventive measures will help to increase the admirers of this type of aesthetic dentistry.
Keywords: teeth whitening, questionnaire
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