Assessment of the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) improvement of different treatments for dentin hypersensitivity in noncarious cervical lesions-a randomized clinical study.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the improvement on oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of individuals with cervical dentin hypersensitivity (CDH) with the noncarious cervical lesion (NCCLs) subjected to different treatments.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A single-blind randomized clinical trial was conducted with patients (n = 74) randomly allocated into three groups according to the treatment performed: PO, potassium oxalate (Oxa-Gel BF); LL, low-power laser irradiation; and POLL, potassium oxalate (Oxa-Gel BF) associated with low-power laser irradiation. The treatments were applied in four steps, weekly. The questionnaire Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) was applied before initiating and immediately after the fourth session. The greater the sum of the score, the smaller the measurement of OHRQoL.

RESULTS

The total mean values of the variables at the final moment were significantly lower than the initial one for all dimensions (p value ranging from < 0.001 to 0.006). Furthermore, the OHIP-14 scores final analysis between the groups indicated that the POLL group compared to LL had a significantly lower final score for the functional limitation (p = 0.009), physical pain (p = 0.049), and psychological discomfort (p = 0.035) dimensions and that group PO compared to group LL had a significantly lower final score for the functional limitation dimension (p = 0.024).

CONCLUSIONS

There was a reduction in the OHIP-14 score for all dimensions, indicating an improvement in patients' quality of life after the use of desensitizing therapies. Patients in group LL had a higher functional limitation, physical pain, and psychological discomfort.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

This study indicated improvement of desensitizing therapies for CDH to improve patients' OHRQoL.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

This trial was registered in the Brazilian Clinical Trials Registry Platform (REBEC protocol number RBR-4ybjmt).