Photothermal-Enhanced Fenton-like Catalytic Activity of Oxygen-Deficient Nanotitania for Efficient and Safe Tooth Whitening

The growing demand for charming smiles has led to the popularization of tooth bleaching procedures. Current tooth bleaching products with high-concentration hydrogen peroxide (HP, 30–40%) are effective but detrimental due to the increased risk of enamel destruction, tooth sensitivity, and gingival irritation. Herein, we reported a less-destructive and efficient tooth whitening strategy with a low-concentration HP, which was realized by the remarkably enhanced Fenton-like catalytic activity of oxygen-deficient TiO2 (TiO2–x). TiO2–x nanoparticles were synthesized with a modified solid-state chemical reduction approach with NaBH4. The Fenton-like activity of TiO2–x was optimized by manipulating oxygen vacancy (OV) concentration and further promoted by the near-infrared (NIR)-induced photothermal effect of TiO2–x. The TiO2–x sample named BT45 was chosen due to the highest methylene blue (MB) adsorption ability and Fenton-like activity among acquired samples. The photothermal property of BT45 under 808 nm NIR irradiation was verified and its enhancement on Fenton-like activity was also studied. The BT45/HP + NIR group performed significantly better in tooth whitening than the HP + NIR group on various discolored teeth (stained by Orange II, tea, or rhodamine B). Excitingly, the same tooth whitening performance as the Opalescence Boost, a tooth bleaching product containing 40% HP, was obtained by a self-produced bleaching gel based on this novel system containing 12% HP. Besides, negligible enamel destruction, safe temperature range, and good cytocompatibility of TiO2–x nanoparticles also demonstrated the safety of this tooth bleaching strategy. This work indicated that the photothermal-enhanced Fenton-like performance of the TiO2–x-based system is highly promising in tooth bleaching application and can also be extended to other biomedical applications.