DENTISTS VIEWS ON CERVICAL HYPERSENSITIVITY AND THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF ITS TREATMENT

A random sample of 400 Dutch general practitioners was asked to comple te a questionnaire dealing with the prevalence, conditions and therapi es of cervical hypersensitivity of their patients. According to the 25 9 responding dentists an average of 10% of their patients suffered fro m moderate cervical pain. The estimated mode for severe pain was 1%. M ore than two thirds of the dentists reported inadequate brushing of th e teeth to cause the hypersensitivity, about one half acknowledged per iodontal causes, well over one quarter mentioned the involvement of di etary acids, and about one sixth implicated psychosomatic factors. Oth er causal factors were mentioned less often. Of the therapies availabl e, the home-care methods appeared to be promoted most often, i.e. brus hing with therapeutic toothpastes (77%), improvement of oral hygiene ( 51%) and local self-application (with finger) of a therapeutic toothpa ste or fluoride preparations before the night (41%). Well over 50% rep orted to apply occasionnally bondings/varnishes and 28% said to make s ometimes cervical fillings. Other therapeutic possibilities were not, or very seldom, used.