Dentin hypersensitivity evaluation

One examiner (PMA) was trained and calibrated by test-retest method for use of the caliper. The intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.990.

It was performed clinical examination in order to identify the presence or not of the etiological factors related to DH, and to dismiss pain related to any other tooth pathology. When the DH could not be related to any factor, it was considered “other factors” as etiologic factor. The clinical examination included thermal test which was run on all tooth that were: completelly erupted in the oral cavity, caries-free, restorations free and non-pillars.

In order to identify the DH in each teeth, a cold test was performed using an iced stick on the vestibular surface. The stimulus was maintained until the painful reaction of the volunteer, with a maximum time of 5 s.

After the stimulus was applied, the participants were instructed to mark the pain intensity on a horizontal visual analogue scale (VAS) of 100 mm, where the left and right edges were equivalents to “no pain” and “unbearable pain” respectively. Scores between 0 and 4 mm were considered as no pain; from 5 to 44 mm, mild pain; from 45 to 74 mm, moderate pain; and 75 to 100 mm, severe pain [11]. An analog caliper was used to quantify the values of pain. For a tooth be considered as having DH, it should respond to the cold test with a score equal to or greater than 5 mm.

In cases of gingival recession, its height was measured. It was used Williams periodontal probe, the measurement was taken from the cement-enamel junction to the free gingival margin, in the middle of the vestibular surface.

The participants fulfilled a questionnaire created by the researches in order to identify the oral hygiene habits and previous DH treatment.