The effect of propolis on dentinal hypersensitivity and level of satisfaction among patients from a university hospital Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Propolis has been used since ancient times in folk medicine for its beneficial effects. It is a mixture of resin, essential oils and waxes mixed with bee glue; also it contains amino acid, minerals, ethanol, vitamin A, B Complex, E, Pollen and highly active ingredient known as Bioflavenoid (Simon Martin 1991). To date, there have been no studies done on desensitizing effect of Propolis in vivo. So, the aims of this study are to evaluate the effect of Propolis in a clinical trial on subjects with dentinal hypersensitivity, and to assess the level of satisfaction among subjects after they have used the Propolis. Twenty six Saudi female subjects at King Saud University, College of Dentistry, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, age ranged from 16-40 yr. (mean = 23 yrs.), were included in the study over a period of four weeks. The Cervical Dentinal Sensitivity (C.D.S.) was assessed by two methods: 1--cold air stimuli. 2--Subjective reporting of pain, with a modified questionnaire (Gillam 1997) and a numerical scale 0-10 (Downie et al 1978). The patients were followed up for four weeks after using Propolis, there were two recalls, and the first recall was after one week and the second recall after four weeks of the base line. The results between the base line findings and after four weeks were statistically significant. Eighty five percent of the subjects were found highly satisfied; the Propolis had significant effect on dentinal hypersensitivity during the study period. Further research is needed with double blind clinical trial on a large sample size.