Clinical Efficacy of Mouthwashes with Potassium Salts in the Treatment of Dentinal Hypersensitivity: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Abstract

This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated whether the home use of mouthwashes containing potassium salts is effective in reducing and controlling dentin hypersensitivity (DH). This study is reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) checklist and was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42021228410). Randomized clinical trials evaluating the use of mouthwashes containing potassium salt for daily household mouthwash for at least four weeks to reduce DH compared with a control mouthwash were selected, with no limitation on year of publication. Electronic research was carried out in PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library by two independent researchers. One hundred thirty-three articles were obtained, and nine were selected according to the inclusion criteria. The selected studies evaluated DH through tests of sensitivity to tactile and evaporative stimuli and showed that, for the tactile stimulus, there were no baseline differences between groups (p=0.12; mean difference: -0.33; confidence intervals [CI]: -0.73 to 0.08). However, there were significant differences after two weeks of use (p=0.00001; mean difference: 4.67; CI: 4.53 to 4.81), after four weeks (p=0.00001; mean difference: 13.29; CI: 13.03 to 13.55), and after eight weeks (p=0.00001; mean difference: 8.88; CI: 5.73 to 12.02) favoring the experimental group. The results of the evaporative test showed no differences in the baseline assessment between the two groups (p=0.50; mean difference: -0.02; CI: -0.09 to 0.04), but after four weeks (p=0.00001; mean difference: -0.32; CI: -0.44 to -0.20), and eight weeks of use (p=0.00001; mean difference: -0.42; CI: -0.57 to -0.27) there were differences favoring the experimental group. The incidence of side effects showed no differences between the two groups (p=0.89; mean difference: 1.03; CI: 0.67 to 1.58). The daily use of mouthwashes containing potassium salt is effective in the treatment of dentinal hypersensitivity, as a complementary step to brushing at least twice a day for two weeks, four weeks, and up to eight weeks, without presenting side effects.