Efficacy in reducing dentine hypersensitivity of a regimen using a toothpaste containing 8% arginine and calcium carbonate, a mouthwash containing 0.8% arginine, pyrophosphate and PVM/MA copolymer and a toothbrush compared to potassium and negative control regimens: An eight-week randomized clinical trial

Abstract Objective Evaluate the efficacy of three regimens integrating toothpaste, toothbrush and mouthwash in reducing dentine hypersensitivity. Methods Eight-week single-centre, three-cell, double-blind, randomized study was conducted in the Dominican Republic. Subjects entered one of the three regimens: (1) toothpaste containing 8% arginine and 1450 ppm mono-fluorophosphate, in a calcium carbonate base, a soft-bristle toothbrush followed by a mouthwash containing 0.8% arginine, PVM/MA copolymer, pyrophosphates, and 0.05% sodium fluoride; (2) toothpaste containing 5% potassium nitrate and 1450 ppm sodium fluoride, a soft-bristle toothbrush, followed by a mouthwash containing 0.51% potassium chloride and 230 ppm sodium fluoride; and (3) toothpaste containing 1450 ppm mono-fluorophosphate, a soft-bristle toothbrush followed by a fluoride/arginine free mouthwash. Tactile and Air-Blast dentine hypersensitivity measurements were performed at baseline, two, four, and eight weeks. For treatment group comparisons, ANCOVA and post hoc Tukey's pair-wise ( α  = 0.05) were used. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis was performed to evaluate Time to Treatment Improvement. Results 120 subjects were enrolled, 118 completed the study. The Tactile hypersensitivity mean scores showed statistically significant improvement at two, four and eight ( p  ≤ 0.001) weeks in the arginine regime; the potassium regime did not show significant ( p  ≥ 0.05) improvement. Air-Blast Hypersensitivity scores had a statistically significant decrease at two ( p =  0.006), four ( p  = 0.006) and eight ( p  = 0.002) weeks in arginine and potassium regimes ( p  ≤ 0.05). The most effective treatment proved to be arginine ( p  ≤ 0.05) compared to the potassium regime. Conclusion Arginine regimen provided the greatest reduction in Tactile and Air-Blast dentine hypersensitivity compared to potassium and negative control regimens; and provides faster dentine hypersensitivity relief than potassium regimen.