Denture hygiene and denture cleansers are very important
for their antimicrobial effect and also in removing stain from
the dentures. The purpose of this study was to determine
the effectiveness of Steradent, Corega, Dentalmate and Fitty
Dent in improving the colour of stained, polished-and unpolished,
acrylic specimens and to determine which colour
component should be the visual impression factor. Samples
of stained acrylic specimens were severally exposed
once to one or other of the denture cleansers. The colour
components (L*, a* and b*) of the specimens were measured
with a spectrophotometer before and after exposure to
one of the four products. In general there was only a slight
non-significant improvement (p>0.05) in the yellowness (a*)
and redness (b*) of the acrylic samples as a result of a single
treatment with any of the four stain removal products.
However, the L* value was mainly negatively influenced. The
differences (ΔE*ab; ΔL*; Δa* and Δb*) between before and
after treatment for any one of the four products were also
not statistically significant on a 5% level (Kruskal Wallis nonparametric
test). Conclusion: A small improvement of the
yellowness and redness could be seen even after a single
treatment. This was found for all four commercially available
denture cleansers on polished and on non-polished specimens.
From the relative magnitudes of L*, a* and b* which
contribute to the overall colour value (ΔE*ab) it was statistically
confirmed that the brightness/lightness component (L*)
should be the visual impression factor.Department of HE and Training approved lis
