An in situ study investigating dentine tubule occlusion of dentifrices following acid challenge

• Published in: Journal of Dentistry
• Main Authors: Olley, Ryan, Pilecki, Peter, Hughes, Nathan, Jeffery, Peter, Austin, Rupert S., Moazzez, Rebecca, Bartlett, David
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: Acetates; Adult; Arginine; Beverages; Calcium Carbonate; Carbonated Beverages; Carbonic Acid; Citric Acid; Citrus paradisi; Citrus sinensis; Cross-Over Studies; Dentifrices; Dentin; Dentin Desensitizing Agents; Female; Fluorides; Humans; Male; Microscopy; Electron; Scanning; Phosphates; Single-Blind Method; Sodium Fluoride; Strontium; Carbonic acid
• Online Access: https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/2c2aff86-c72d-4238-b174-d2105b93b44e; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdent.2012.03.008

Objectives: To investigate the dentine occlusion and acid resistance of dentifrices developed to treat dentine hypersensitivity. Methods: This was a single centre, single blind, randomised, split mouth, four treatments, two period crossover, in situ study in healthy subjects. Subjects wore buccal intra-oral appliances each fitted with four dentine samples over four consecutive days with one study product applied per appliance; 8% strontium acetate in silica base, 1040 ppm sodium fluoride (Sensodyne (R) Rapid Relief), 8% arginine, calcium carbonate, 1450 ppm sodium monofluorophosphate (Colgate Sensitive Pro-Relief (R)), 1450 ppm sodium fluoride (control paste) and water. On days 3 and 4, two agitated grapefruit juice challenges (ex vivo) occurred for 1 min. At the end of each treatment day 1 dentine sample was removed from each appliance for scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The extent of tubule occlusion was measured using an examiner-based visual scoring index (three trained examiners). Results: In total, 28 subjects ((12 males and 16 females with a mean age of 34.7 years (SD 8.41 years)) completed the study. On day 2, both test dentifrices demonstrated significantly better dentine tubule occlusion than water (p < 0.0001) and control paste (8% strontium p = 0.0003 and 8% arginine p = 0.0019). After 3 and 4 days of twice daily brushing with acid challenges on days 3 and 4 the strontium-based dentifrice demonstrated significantly better dentine occlusion than all other treatments (p < 0.0001). Conclusions: Strontium acetate and arginine-based dentifrice result in statistically significant dentine tubular occlusion compared to controls, but the arginine-based dentifrice is more susceptible to acid challenge. Clinical significance: Erosive beverages are an important aetiology in DH by exposing dentine tubules. Their consumption has increased significantly over the past decade in the UK. This 4-day in situ study investigated the properties of commercially available dentifrices designed to occlude dentine ...