DENTIN DESENSITIZING AGENTS - SEM AND X-RAY-MICROANALYSIS ASSESSMENT

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of four proprietary dentin desensitizi ng agents on dentin tubular occlusion, chemical composition changes on the dentin surface, and the effect of saliva and toothbrushing on the se agents. Materials and Methods: Fifty dentin discs, obtained from 50 freshly extracted human premolar and molar teeth were used in this st udy. These were divided into five groups of 10 discs each. Five discs from each group were treated with the desensitizing agents, viewed und er the SEM and subjected to energy dispersive X-ray analysis. The othe r five discs were treated with the desensitizing agents, immersed in a rtificial saliva, subjected to simulated toothbrushing equivalent to 3 weeks of normal brushing and viewed under the SEM. The agents studied were Sensodyne Dentin Desensitizer, Therma-Trol Desensitizer Gel, Glu ma Desensitizer and All-Bond DS. Results: The Kruskal-Wallis test foll owed by the Wilcoxon signed-rank test showed that Sensodyne Dentin Des ensitizer exhibited the greatest amount of tubular occlusion among the unbrushed samples, followed by Therma-Trol Desensitizer Gel, Gluma De sensitizer and All-Bond DS (P < 0.05) in that order. Toothbrushing inc reased tubular occlusion in all cases except the Sensodyne Dentin Dese nsitizer treated samples.