A Randomized Clinical Study to Evaluate the Efficacy of an 8% (w/w) Strontium Acetate Dentifrice in Providing Relief from Dentinal Hypersensitivity

To evaluate the clinical efficacy of a dentifrice containing 8% strontium acetate in the relief of dentinal hypersensitivity (DH), compared with that of a standard fluoride dentifrice, in a Chinese population.

This was an eight-week, single-center, randomized, controlled, examiner-blind, parallel-group study in healthy adult volunteers with DH. After an initial acclimatization period, subjects were randomized to receive either a test dentifrice containing 8% strontium acetate with 1040 ppm fluoride as sodium fluoride, or a commercially available regular fluoride dentifrice containing 1400 ppm fluoride as sodium monofluorophosphate with no known anti-sensitivity activity (negative control). The subjects were instructed to brush twice daily with their allocated dentifrice for the next eight weeks. DH was assessed at baseline and following four and eight weeks of dentifrice use by response to a tactile stimulus (tactile threshold) and evaporative (air) stimulus (Schiff Sensitivity Scale).

A total of 135 subjects were randomized to study treatment and 133 completed the study. Both the test and negative control dentifrices were associated with statistically significant reductions in sensitivity from baseline after four and eight weeks' treatment, as assessed by the Schiff sensitivity score (all p ≤ 0.0002) and tactile threshold (all p < 0.0001). The reductions in Schiff sensitivity scores were statistically significantly greater in the test dentifrice group compared with the negative control group, with mean between-treatment differences of 40.1% and 55.8% after four and eight weeks, respectively (both p < 0.0001). Although increases in the tactile threshold were greater in the test dentifrice group after four and eight weeks' treatment compared with the negative control group (mean difference of 13.7% and 14.2%, respectively), the two groups were not statistically significantly different. Both study dentifrices were generally well tolerated.

In this study in a Chinese population, both the 8% strontium acetate dentifrice and the negative control dentifrice were associated with statistically significant reductions in DH from baseline after four and eight weeks of twice-daily brushing. A statistically significant difference was observed between the test dentifrice and the negative control in evaporative (air) sensitivity (Schiff sensitivity score) after four and eight weeks, favoring the test dentifrice.