COMPARISON OF 2 DESENSITIZING AGENTS FOR THE TREATMENT OF CERVICAL DENTIN SENSITIVITY

Numerous desensitizing agents have been utilized in an effort to allev iate the discomfort associated with cervical dentine sensitivity (CDS) . Recently several new tubule-occluding and sealant systems have been marketed for treatment. The aim of this study was to compare two desen sitizing agents (ALL-BOND 2 and Butler Protect) in a 3-month clinical study. Ten subjects (6F; 4M mean age 45.1 years (SD 8.81) who had prov ided voluntary written informed consent participated in a single-blind 3-month clinical study. Subjects were evaluated for tactile (Yeaple p robe) and air sensitivity (dental air syringe) together with subjectiv e perception of pain (VAS scores) at 0.5 min, 1, 2 and 3 months. There was an overall trend in reduction of CDS over the study period in all groups with no significant differences detected between groups. The r esults suggested that while subjects reported overall reductions in se nsitivity levels, this may not necessarily be substantiated when asses sed objectively. Furthermore, there appeared to be a strong placebo ef fect in this study.