Comparison of casein phosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate fluoride paste and a propolis-containing herbal...

This study aimed to compare the efficacy of casein phosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate fluoride (CPP-ACPF) and propolis-based herbal toothpaste in the treatment of dentin hypersensitivity (DH).

In this clinical trial, 20 patients (7 men and 13 women) who met the inclusion criteria were randomly divided into two groups. One group received the herbal toothpaste containing propolis (Herbex^®), while the other received a paste containing CPP-ACPF (GC^® MI-Paste Plus). Two nonadjacent teeth with DH in two quadrants of each patient were assessed. The pain was determined through the visual analog scale (VAS) in cold and airblast tests before the intervention (baseline) as well as at 15 min, 1, 2, 4, and 8 weeks after the first application. Three-level mixed effect model (repeated measurement, tooth, and patients) was used to analyze the VAS score data. Estimation of fixed effect parameters with standard error and the intraclass correlation coefficient that quantifies the degree to which data at the lower level are correlated were reported. The statistical significance level was determined as P < 0.05.

The mean pain intensity score after 8 weeks significantly decreased in the propolis-based toothpaste group (P < 0.001) and CPP-ACPF paste group (P < 0.001) compared with baseline. Betweenn-group comparison in the 8^th week showed a significantly lower pain score in the propolis-based toothpaste group compared with the CPP-ACPF-containing paste (P = 0.02). However, at other intervals, there were no significant differences between the two groups (P > 0.05).

The use of both herbal toothpaste containing propolis and CPP-ACPF-containing paste for 8 weeks effectively reduced DH, with a higher desensitizing effect experienced in the former group.