A short term comparative evaluation of the efficacy of diode laser with desensitizing toothpastes and mouthwashes in the treatment of dentinal hypersensitivity

BACKGROUND: Treatment of dentinal hypersensitivity (DH) has always been challenging with a wide variety of therapeutic options, in-office and home care. The study objective was to compare the clinical efficacy of diode laser [DL] with four commercially available desensitizing agents (two toothpastes and two mouthwashes) in the treatment of DH. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study involved 75 participants (25-45 years) who were categorized as Group 1 (n=15) treated with DL, and Groups 2, 3,4 and 5 (n=15 in each) who were prescribed 3% potassium nitrate mouth rinse, a herbal mouth rinse, potassium nitrate tooth paste and a herbal tooth paste, respectively. DH was assessed by air blast stimulation using air blast syringe, and evaluation of DH was done based on the patient’s subjective response using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) at baseline, 1 week and 1 month. RESULTS: DL and the desensitizing agents showed significant reduction in DH at 1 month when compared with baseline, except potassium nitrate mouth wash. However, DL showed more percentage reduction in DH when compared with potassium nitrate tooth paste, herbal mouth wash and paste. CONCLUSIONS: The study implies that even though all five groups showed improvement in terms of DH reduction, DL showed the best results among all the groups. Key words:Dentinal Hypersensitivity, Diode Laser, Potassium Nitrate, Herbal, Visual analog scale.