Arginine-containing desensitizing toothpaste for the treatment of dentin hypersensitivity: a meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE To estimate the effect of arginine-containing desensitizing toothpaste on dentin hypersensitivity (DH). METHODS Databases including China National Knowledge Infrastructure, VIP Database for Chinese Technical Periodicals, China Biology Medicine disc, Wangfang Data, PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane Trials Register were searched, and Google was used as a supplementary tool to search for information through February 2014. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of the treatment of DH with arginine-containing toothpaste were included. Relevant information was extracted, and a quality evaluation was performed. Meta-analyses were performed using RevMan 5.2 software. RESULTS Eighteen RCTs with 1,423 patients were included. The results of the meta-analyses demonstrated that at days 0 and 3; weeks 2, 4, and 8; and more than 12 weeks, arginine-containing toothpaste led to significantly improved results on the tactile sensitivity test (standardized mean difference [SMD] =1.95, 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.14, 2.76]) and the air-blast test (SMD =-1.60, 95% CI [-2.14, -1.05]) at 4 weeks and the tactile sensitivity test (SMD =2.01, 95% CI [1.41, 2.61]) and the air-blast test (SMD =-1.41, 95% CI [-1.83, -0.98]) at 8 weeks compared to toothpastes containing other desensitizing components, thus indicating a superior therapeutic effect of arginine-containing desensitizing toothpaste. However, no significant differences between arginine-containing toothpaste and toothpastes containing other desensitizing components were observed in the air-blast test at days 0 and 3 and week 2 and in the tactile sensitivity and air-blast tests at more than 12 weeks. CONCLUSION The current evidence indicates that arginine-containing toothpaste is effective for DH. However, further high-quality, large-sample RCTs are needed.