Dentin hypersensitivity treated with a fluoride-containing varnish or a light-cured glass-ionomer liner

Dentin hypersensitivity in 112 teeth was randomly treated with Duraphat or Vitrabond. No patients were included unless they, without being asked, complained about daily pain for a long period of time caused by cold, warm, sweet, sour, touch or any combination of these five variables. Patients were excluded if the dentin hypersensitivity could have been caused by cervical abrasion/erosion lesions deeper than 1 mm, cracked-tooth syndrome, caries lesions, operative caries treatment, and/or periodontal surgery or root scaling within the last 6 months. The pain was registered on a binary scale: 1) pain before the treatment; and 2) pain/no pain after the treatment. With Duraphat, 22% of the treatments failed within 1 wk and the cumulative 1-yr success rate was 41%. With Vitrabond, 2% failed within the first week and the 1-yr success rate was 79%. The difference between the two treatments was highly significant. Patients in whom Duraphat failed were treated with Vitrabond and vice versa; the 1-yr success rate for the retreated teeth was 68% when "Duraphat-failures" were treated with Vitrabond and 42% when "Vitrabond-failures" were treated with Duraphat.