Comparison of clinical efficacy of three toothpastes in reducing dentin hypersensitivity

The objective of the study was to compare the clinical efficacy in reducing dentin hypersensitivity of a test toothpaste containing 8% strontium acetate and 1040 ppm fluoride as sodium fluoride (NaF) in a silica base, to a positive control toothpaste containing 8.0% arginine and 1450 ppm fluoride as sodium monofluorophosphate (MFP) in a calcium carbonate base, and a negative control toothpaste containing 1100 ppm fluoride as NaF in a silica base.

Subjects identified with two hypersensitive teeth using the tactile (Yeaple Probe) and air blast (Schiff's Scale) hypersensitivity methods were assigned to their treatment group. There were 50 subjects per group. Subjects then self-applied the assigned toothpaste to their hypersensitive teeth using a fingertip, then brushed their teeth at home using the same toothpaste twice daily for seven days. Dentin hypersensitivity and oral tissues were evaluated at baseline, immediately after the single application, and after seven days. A chi-square analysis was conducted to examine the effects with respect to gender between treatments. Comparisons of the age and baseline hypersensitivity data among groups were performed using the analysis of variance (ANOVA). Within-treatment effects were analyzed using the paired t-test, while the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to determine the between-treatment effects. The post hoc Tukey's test was performed for the pair-wise comparisons using a significance level of alpha = 0.05.

All 150 subjects complied with the protocol and completed the study. The positive control toothpaste containing 8.0% arginine and 1450 ppm fluoride as MFP in a calcium carbonate base provided statistically significant improvements in mean tactile and air blast dentin hypersensitivity scores compared to the negative control toothpaste containing 1100 ppm fluoride as NaF in a silica base (p < 0.05). The toothpaste containing 8.0% arginine and 1450 ppm fluoride as MFP in a calcium carbonate base (positive control) also provided statistically significant improvements in mean tactile and air blast dentin hypersensitivity scores compared to the test toothpaste containing 8% strontium acetate and 1040 ppm fluoride as NaF in a silica base. The test toothpaste and the negative control toothpaste were not significantly different from each other.

The test toothpaste containing 8% strontium acetate and 1040 ppm fluoride as NaF in a silica base, when used for a single topical application and twice-daily brushing for seven days, does not provide statistically significant relief of dentin hypersensitivity compared to a negative control toothpaste containing 1100 ppm fluoride as NaF in a silica base. In contrast, the positive control toothpaste containing 8.0% arginine and 1450 ppm fluoride as MFP in a calcium carbonate base provided significantly reduced dentin hypersensitivity compared to the negative control toothpaste, and was significantly more effective than the test toothpaste containing 8% strontium acetate and 1040 ppm fluoride as NaF in a silica base.