Effect Of dehydration on in-office bleaching color changes

ii To my husband Peter for his patience and love To my parents for their continual support and unconditional love To my family, friends and classmates To my mentors and committee for their guidance and support iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Dr. Marcos Vargas for his unconditional availability, caring support, encouragement and his desire to share his knowledge at all times. I could not find a better program director and mentor than Dr. Deborah Cobb. I will always have my deepest gratitude for her willingness and unconditional help. Her qualities are invaluable as a person and as a professional. It was a great privilege to have Dr. M. Marcela Hernandez as part of my thesis committee and I am grateful for her precious support and knowledge during this entire process. Her personal experience and advice gave me encouragement to continue in my process towards this master degree. Special thanks to Dr. Justine Kolker for her immense knowledge and her contagious laugh. It was invaluable having her on my thesis committee. She was also reassuring and approachable at all times. And last but not least a very special thanks to Dr. Fang Qian for her desire to help me and for her unwavering support and expertise with the study design and statistical analysis. I was honored to have her on my committee. During my transitional program I had the privilege to have two chair department chairs of Operative Dentistry. The first year Dr. Gerald Denehy supported me with his caring teaching abilities and I was fortunate enough to continue to have him as a teacher the following year. His encouragement and desire to teach is priceless. Dr. Steven Armstrong continued the second year as department chair, and I appreciate his willingness to help us with our program. Dr. So-Ran Kwon was an important person in this study. She gave me the idea of bleaching and dehydration. She encouraged me to continue to work, and I will always be grateful to her for her support and her willingness to share her extensive knowledge. iv To Maggie from Dows Institute for Dental Research a special gratitude for her suggestions and the collection of the teeth samples as well as her consistent desire to help. I also want to thank my invaluable and special classmates, Laurie and Josh. I was so fortunate to have them during these two …