Evaluation of the Occluding Characteristics of Nanosized Eggshell/Titanium Dioxide with or without Saliva

The study reports on the effectiveness of a ball-milled nanosized titanium dioxide composite (EB@TiO₂) for DH management in comparison with commercial desensitizing paste with and without saliva.

Forty-nine dentine specimens were prepared from extracted bovine anterior teeth. Twenty-one of the specimens were brushed with three desensitizing toothpaste for 7 days, namely: Group 1; EB@TiO₂, Group 2; Colgate Pro-relief; and Group 3; Sensodyne repair (n = 7). Twenty-four specimens were brushed with the toothpaste for 7 days and stored in artificial saliva (control) after brushing. Each specimen was subsequently posttreated in citric acid solution to test its stability in acidic condition. Field scanning electron microscope was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the dentine tubules occlusion. The biocompatibility of the composite was tested using BHK21 cell line.

One-way analysis of variance was used to analyze the percentage occluded area ratio values for all specimens (α = 0.05). Independent t-test was further used to evaluate the occlusion differences with saliva and without saliva.

The number of dentine tubules decreased significantly after 7 days of brushing. Overall, the occlusion observe for EB@TiO₂ were significantly better than for Colgate Pro-relief and Sensodyne repair (p < 0.05). BHK21 assay suggested that composite had no significant effect on the BHK21 cell line. This study demonstrated that the composite effectively occluded open dentine tubules within 7 days of brushing.