Effects of desensitizing products on the reduction of pain sensitivity caused by in-office tooth bleaching: a 24-week follow-up
Josué Júnior Araújo Pierote, Lúcia Trazzi Prieto, Carlos Tadeu dos Santos Dias, João Víctor Frazão Câmara, Débora Alves Nunes Leite Lima, Flávio Henrique Baggio Aguiar, Luís Alexandre Maffei Sartini Paulillo
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To clinically assess the effect of desensitizing gels and dentifrices on the reduction in pain sensitivity and color variation during tooth bleaching. METHODOLOGY: A total of 108 volunteers were randomly separated into the following groups of n=12: GT/S-glycerine and thickener/sucralose; NF/S-potassium nitrate and sodium fluoride/sucralose; NA/S-potassium nitrate and arginine/sucralose; GT/AC-glycerine and thickener/arginine and calcium carbonate; NF/AC-potassium nitrate and sodium fluoride/arginine and calcium carbonate; NA/AC-potassium nitrate and arginine/arginine and calcium carbonate; GT/PN-glycerine and thickener/potassium nitrate; NF/PN-potassium nitrate and sodium fluoride/potassium nitrate; and NA/PN-potassium nitrate and arginine/potassium nitrate. Sensitivity was assessed with the numerical analogue scale, and color variation (ΔE) was measured with a spectrophotometer. The sensitivity values obtained were subjected to a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and color variation values were subjected to a randomized analysis of variance (p<0.05). RESULTS: The NF/AC, NA/AC, NF/PN, and NA/PN groups presented lower sensitivity values and reduced sensitivity compared to those of the other groups throughout the clinical sessions. None of the groups showed sensitivity at the 24-week assessment. Statistically, no significant difference were observed in the color values among the groups four weeks after the beginning of bleaching (p=0.074). Additionally, the color assessment of all groups was statistically similar four weeks (p=0.084) and 24 weeks (p=0.118) after the beginning. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that adding NF/S, NA/S, NF/AC, and NA/AC desensitizers to tooth bleaching protocols reduces pain sensitivity without affecting its effectiveness.