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PhilipsSonicareMiddleEast DubaiKnowledgeVillage Dubai,UAE +97144461100 www.mea.philips.com/e/oralhealthcare Dental Tribune Middle East & Africa Edition | 5/2016 16 oral health www.facebook.com/rakcodsmslde 2016 / March 1st 2017 www.alss-edu.ch Where the magic happens ByPhilips Tooth whitening has been at the forefront of cosmetic dentistry for years – centuries, even. Its history can be traced back thousands of years, long before the toothbrush was invented... and certainly before dentistswerearound. Philips has been at the centre of this journey for years. Away from oral healthcare, the first Philips’ patent dates back to 1905 – an invention by GerardPhilipstoextendtheburning time of a light bulb. The company has been innovating light research ever since, so you can bet Philips knowsathingortwoaboutadapting lightforoptimumtoothwhitening. Sixshadeslighter Last month, Aesthetic Dentistry To- day attended a live demonstration ofPhilipsZoom!Whiteninginitslab, learning about the science behind light and basic colour theory along theway. Dr Nigel Young, lead research sci- entist at Philips, says that when it comes to whitening, patients want something that works – which may soundobvious.Butmostofthetime, patientsarelookingfor‘instantgrati- fication’, and often, home whitening willnotlastaslong,orbeaseffective, asprofessionalchairsidewhitening. Here’swherePhilipscomesin:Zoom! isanin-officetoothwhiteningproce- dure, with a blue light-activated sys- tem.Theactionofthelampactivates the stains on the teeth and makes them react faster with the hydrogen peroxide. Essentially, this means thatwhiteninglastslonger:setatthe optimum pH level (approximately eight), and with the incorporation of amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) in a dual-barrel syringe, Zoom! ensures that teeth are not damaged and that the patient does not experi- encesensitivity. The process is cold, too; the team wants to debunk the myth that heat activates whitening (which only causes dehydration and ‘false’ whit- ening). It achieves up to six shades of whit- ening with 6% hydrogen peroxide, in compliance with EU regulations – andonlybluelight-activatedwhiten- ingcanachievethis.Buthow? Thefacelift In basic colour theory, yellow light naturally absorbs blue. (Think of yellow light as the ‘stains’ on teeth.) Theenergyabsorbedbythechromo- phore (which is yellow) excites its bonds,makingthemeasiertobreak– called photobleaching. Once excited, the bonds are more likely to interact with peroxide, which breaks the net- workofdoubleandsinglebondsand decolours the molecule. Blue light greatlyenhancesthereactionrate. Light-cured restoratives work on the same principle: a yellow pigment (camphorquinone) is added to the restorative (so little is required that it still appears white). The light ab- sorbed by the pigment activates the chromophore and that energy caus- es a set of fast cross-linking reactions thatsolidifytherestorative. Dr Zaki Kanaan, a dentist in London and a past president of the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, de- scribes tooth whitening as a ‘scalpel- freefacelift’. According to Dr Kanaan, it is the most common treatment in prac- tice, increasing revenue and offer- ing patients a choice; home tooth whitening is still the ‘gold standard’, he says, but if you don’t offer tooth whitening in practice, someone else will. Zoom! can be done in 90 minutes, but Dr Kanaan is quick to point out that one session will not be enough. ‘It reduces what you have to do at home, and that’s important to pa- tients,’ he says. ‘It helps kick-start the process, and patients who really want this procedure will be happy to watch a 90-minute film while they haveitdone.’ He adds: ‘It offers huge PR and mar- keting potential, too – patients come in to practice and ask for Zoom! by name, showing they trust it as much asprofessionals.’ Safetyfirst Toothwhiteningisacomplexmixof chemistry and physics, and Philips has ensured that it works with the right researchers to understand the processbehindwhitening. Philipsworkswithfouroftheworld’s top10universitiesandpartnerswith leading academic institutes in the UK for oral healthcare, including the Eastman Dental Institute and King’s CollegeLondon. Dr Young says the lab at Philips headquartersinCambridgeis‘where the magic happens’. The team as- sessedPhilipsZoom!whiteninghere, looking at pH levels, sensitivity tests, experiments in a dark room, as well as ensuring extracted bovine and humanteethwerenotdehydratedto skewresults.Invitrotestingofcoffee, tea and red wine stains on extracted humanteethwerealsoconducted. Follow-up, Dr Young says, is essen- tial; the team has been researching this area and product since 2012, and made ‘absolutely sure that Zoom! wassafeandeffectiveforuse’. Theonlywayisup Philipsiskeentoinvest,researchand innovate in oral healthcare, main- taining its position as one of the key figures in the dental industry. The company aims to improve the lives of three billion people by 2025 on a dailybasis,andbringthishealthyliv- ing into prevention, diagnosis and therapy. Dr Young also emphasised Philips’ role in future oral healthcare, saying: ‘Our aim is to push oral healthcare to the forefront of general wellbeing. The main question we ask ourselves is: how can we make people more aware of how to take care of their body? ‘We came to Cambridge for a reason – we work with some of the best re- searchers in the world, and we hope to continue this learning and inno- vatinglongintothefuture.’ OriginallyPublishedby: Carlotta Eden, Managing Editor, Aes- thetic Dentistry Today (FMC Publica- tions),August2016,UK What goes on behind the scenes at Philips? We find out how in-lab research and years of innovation helped create Philips Zoom! whitening ResearchengineerZeynepSabahBagwellpreparesZoom!onextractedhuman teeth Myths about whitening • Heat does not accelerate whitening • Hydrogen peroxide is not activated by blue light (as it is colourless) • Dehydration actually causes ‘false’ whitening • Home care whitening has a place, but it can take longer to achieve ideal results • Zoom! does not harm enamel or exacerbate tooth sensitivity.