A 3-day randomised clinical trial to investigate the desensitising properties of three dentifrices

Background: Aim of the study was to evaluate the relative abilities of three desensitizing dentifrices to the rapid relief of dentinal hypersensitivity (DH). Methods and Materials: Using a double-blind, randomized design, three dentifrices [1) containing 8% arginine, 1450ppm sodium monofluorophosphate; 2) containing 8% strontium acetate, 1040ppm sodium fluoride; 3) containing 30% micro-aggregation of zinc-carbonate hydroxyapatite nanocrystals] were compared after 3-day treatment. Participant’s DH was evaluated at baseline and after 3 days using Airblast, Tactile, Cold water and Subjective tests. Results: The final sample consisted of 85 subjects: 29 received the arginine-based dentifrice (group 1); 27 the strontium acetate-based dentifrice (group 2); 29 the dentifrice based on zinc-carbonate hydroxyapatite (group 3). All dentifrices were largely effective to reduce DH: the percentage of score reduction from baseline to 3 days was greater than 30% for all tests (except for subjective test of group 2). The comparison among the three dentifrices showed that after 3 days there was an improvement in Airblast (mean percentage of reduction 39.2% in group 1; 42.0% in group 2; 39.2% in group 3), Cold water (41.5%; 51.8%; 50%), Tactile (50.3%; 40.1%; 33.8%) and Subjective (33.1%; 17.4%; 31.4%) test scores, with differences being significant for Cold Water and Subjective tests. For Airblast and Tactile tests there were no significant differences across groups at 3 days. Moreover, no significant differences at any test were observed in a subset of patients that were followed up to 8 weeks: all dentifrices were all highly efficacious. Conclusions: This study documented that the three tested dentifrices significantly reduced DH after 3-day treatment, supporting their utility in clinical practice. This is the first report documenting the rapid relief from DH of a zinc-carbonate hydroxyapatite dentifrice.