Cochrane · intervention · CD001476

Potassium containing toothpastes for dentine hypersensitivity

Poulsen, S, Errboe, M, Lescay Mevil, Y, et al. · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · 2006 · Cochrane Library

Oral Health Dental caries Esthetic dentistry2 versionsAMSTAR 2: not assessed

Full textEvery question was extracted from the full review (methods and results), not only its Summary of Findings table.

Questions

current version

GRADE rated

No studies

Included studies

as reported

No studies 0 · 0%Ungraded 5 · 100%Very low 0 · 0%Low 0 · 0%Moderate 0 · 0%High 0 · 0%

Ungraded means an effect was reported without a GRADE rating; it is not a gap. No studies means the review found nothing to answer the question. The six categories are a display order, not a score.

Review question

Element	Planned (methods)	Found (results)
Population	Healthy human adults (18 years or more) with dentine hypersensitivity from exposed root surfaces	390 participants in six studies (subjective assessment based on 108 participants)
Intervention	Daily home use of potassium containing toothpaste	Potassium nitrate toothpaste 5% (n=390)
Comparison	Control toothpaste identical to the test paste but without the potassium salt	Control toothpaste without potassium nitrate (n=390)
Outcomes	Changes in (1) pain symptoms in response to tactile, thermal and airblast stimuli; (2) patients' subjective assessment of pain during every-day life; only studies reporting data suitable for meta-analysis (mean and SD) were included	Tactile assessment (method a) (n=1); Tactile assessment (method b) (n=5); Air blast assessment (n=6); Thermal assessment (n=1); Subjective assessment (n=3)
Study designs	Randomised controlled trials (RCTs)	RCT, parallel group (n=6)
Timing	Sensitivity measured at 6 to 8 weeks	8 weeks (4 studies); 12 weeks (2 studies)

Search date: 2005-09. Databases: Cochrane Oral Health Group Trials Register; Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL); EMBASE/MEDLINE; PubMed; Web of Science

Questions and results

Current version only

Potassium containing toothpaste (5% potassium nitrate) vs Control toothpaste (without potassium)

Population: Healthy human adults (18 years or more) with dentine hypersensitivity from exposed root surfaces

CD001476.PUB2 (current) · 5 questions

Outcome	Effect	Evidence	Status / GRADE
Subjective assessment of sensitivity 6 to 8 weeks same question in other reviews	SMD -0.67 [-1.44, 0.10]	3 studies · 206 participants	Ungraded
Thermal sensitivity 6 to 8 weeks same question in other reviews	MD -1.10 [-1.64, -0.55]	1 study	Ungraded
Tactile sensitivity (method a, ordinal scale) 6 to 8 weeks same question in other reviews	MD -0.65 [-1.07, -0.23]	1 study	Ungraded
Air blast sensitivity 6 to 8 weeks same question in other reviews	SMD -1.25 [-1.65, -0.85]	6 studies · 392 participants	Ungraded
Tactile sensitivity (method b, continuous probe) 6 to 8 weeks same question in other reviews	SMD 1.19 [0.79, 1.59]	5 studies · 356 participants	Ungraded

Potassium nitrate toothpaste (5%) vs Placebo toothpaste (without potassium nitrate)

Population: Healthy human adults (18 years or more) with dentine hypersensitivity from exposed root surfaces

CD001476 · 5 questions

Outcome	Effect	Evidence	Status / GRADE
Thermal sensitivity 6 to 8 weeks	MD -1.10 [-1.64, -0.55]	1 study	Ungraded
Subjective assessment of sensitivity 6 to 8 weeks	SMD -0.67 [-1.44, 0.10]	3 studies · 206 participants	Ungraded
Tactile sensitivity (method b, continuous probe) 6 to 8 weeks	SMD 0.87 [0.59, 1.16]	3 studies · 209 participants	Ungraded
Air blast sensitivity 6 to 8 weeks	SMD -1.51 [-2.09, -0.94]	4 studies · 245 participants	Ungraded
Tactile sensitivity (method a, ordinal scale) 6 to 8 weeks	MD -0.65 [-1.07, -0.23]	1 study	Ungraded