COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF SINGLE APPLICATION OF IONTOPHORESIS & LASERS IN THE TREATMENT OF DENTINAL HYPERSENSITIVITY- A SINGLE BLIND, RANDOMIZED CONTROLLEDCLINICAL STUDY

Background: Dentin hypersensitivity (DH) is a frequently reported dental condition that is typically characterized by short, sharp pain, which cannot be ascribed to any other form of dental defect or pathology, arising from exposed dentin in response to thermal, tactile, chemical stimuli. Various treatment options are available for its treatment. Laser and Iontophoresis are two major treatments which are giving promising results.

Objectives: To evaluate, compare the desensitizing action of diode LASERS with iontophoresis in the treatment of hypersensitive teeth.

Materials and Methods: The present term study was carried out on 160 teeth (40 quadrants) of 10 patients from the out-patient section of department of periodontics. The selected patients were randomly divided into two groups. Group 1 comprises of application of LASERS for 60 seconds. Group 2 comprises of application of iontophoresis for 3 minutes. The selected male and female patients between 18 to 50 years of age were included. Scaling was performed one week prior to treatment. The patients were strictly advised not to use any other toothpaste containing desensitizing agents during the study. The amount of pre and post pain rating for dentinal hypersensitivity was assessed by blinded reviewers using visual analog scale. Severity of dentinal hypersensitivity was assessed before application, immediately after application, after one week and three weeks interval.

Statistical Analysis: The results were assessed and analysed by means of Pairedt test and keeping p value less than 0.05 as significant.

Results: It showed that comparison between group I and II were statistically significant throughout the 3 weeks.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated that reduction in dentinal hypersensitivity resulted in both the groups, during follow up periods LASERS showed increased capability in reducing dentin hypersensitivity i.e effective for longer duration than compared to iontophoresis.