Impact of toothpaste on oral health-related quality of life in people with dentine hypersensitivity

Robert Maclure,Gary R Burnett,Nisha Patel,Avinash Patil,Stephen Mason

doi:10.1186/s12903-019-0919-x

Abstract

BackgroundDentine hypersensitivity can impact functional status and everyday activities such as eating and talking. This study aimed to assess changes in oral health-related quality of life measures in individuals with dentine hypersensitivity following long-term use (24 weeks) of a commercially available toothpaste marketed for dentine hypersensitivity relief.MethodsThis study was conducted across two sites and enrolled 75 adults with ≥2 non-adjacent sensitive teeth. Participants were assigned to twice-daily brushing with toothpaste containing 0.454% w/w stannous fluoride (1100 ppm fluoride). Every 4 weeks, participant-reported outcomes were assessed using the Dentine Hypersensitivity Experience Questionnaire (DHEQ), a condition specific oral health-related quality of life scale that has five domains and includes questions on social and emotional impact, restrictions, adaptations and effect on life overall. Responses to a clinically applied evaporative (air) stimulus were assessed using the examiner-observed Schiff sensitivity scale and Labelled Magnitude Scales (LMS), which included dentine hypersensitivity-specific descriptors of intensity, duration, tolerability and descriptive qualities of the participant’s response.ResultsParticipant-reported outcomes demonstrated reduction of the impact of dentine hypersensitivity over time on health-related quality of life, as measured by the DHEQ. This reached statistical significance from Week 8 onwards (p < 0.0001 versus baseline) for the Total DHEQ score, with scores continually decreasing at each timepoint. Most domain scores followed a similar pattern. Statistically significant reductions were also detected for the examiner-observed Schiff Sensitivity Scale scores at all timepoints (including at 4 weeks) (p < 0.05), which were mirrored by LMS responses. The toothpaste was generally well-tolerated.ConclusionsThese results show that long-term use of a sensitivity toothpaste containing 0.454% w/w stannous fluoride has a beneficial, ongoing, impact on the oral health-related quality of life of people with dentine hypersensitivity.Trial registrationThis study was registered at Clinicaltrials.gov (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02752958) on April 27, 2016.

Highlights

Dentine hypersensitivity can impact functional status and everyday activities such as eating and talking
The defining symptom of Dentine hypersensitivity (DH) is short, sharp pain unrelated to any other dental pathology or defect [3, 4]. This is typically assessed clinically by evaluating response to a potentially painful evaporative or tactile stimulus applied to the tooth, using either examiner-observed criteria or participant-reported verbal descriptors and/or pain rating scales [6]
The first participant was enrolled on 23 May 2016; the final participant completed the study on 3 February 2017

Summary

Introduction

Dentine hypersensitivity can impact functional status and everyday activities such as eating and talking. The defining symptom of DH is short, sharp pain unrelated to any other dental pathology or defect [3, 4]. This is typically assessed clinically by evaluating response to a potentially painful evaporative or tactile stimulus applied to the tooth, using either examiner-observed criteria (e.g., the Schiff Sensitivity Scale [5]) or participant-reported verbal descriptors and/or pain rating scales [6]. DH impacts functional status and the ability to participate in everyday activities including eating, drinking, tooth brushing, talking and social interactions [7]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion