Evaluating the effect of ozone gas in managing dentin hypersensitivity

Objectives: Dentin hypersensitivity (DH) is diagnosed as a short, sharp pain localized to exposed root surface dentin in response to thermal, evaporative, tactile, osmotic or chemical stimuli and is not ascribed to any other form of dental defect or pathology. DH is a common problem in adults and is difficult to treat with an uncertain prognosis.

Methods: The effect of an ozone delivery system [HealOzone (KaVo GmbH), 40 s ozone at 2100 ppm at a flow rate of 615cc/minute] in reducing DH was evaluated. An eight-week, three-visit, triple-blinded, randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted using two HealOzone machines (ozone/air) involving 44 subjects. The pain in response to tactile stimulus or desiccation was assessed using a 100 mm Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). The interval of 10 minutes was used between stimuli to minimize interactions. The mean value of Tactile/Air VAS sensitivity measurements for each patient was calculated for each subject's teeth and the means averaged per study group. Also, the global subjects' perception of sensitivity was assessed at each visit using the VAS. The Independent-Samples T Test, Mann-Whitney U Test, ANCOVA and Repeated Measures ANOVA were used for data analysis. Statistical tests were two-tailed and interpreted at the 5% significance level.

Results: No subjects reported an increase in pain or any adverse effect. All subjects reported a clinically significant reduction of pain at each follow-up relative to baseline; however, the difference between the study groups was not statistically significant.

Conclusion: The effect of treatment of hypersensitive teeth with ozone reduces the pain sensation, but this effect cannot be distinguished from the placebo treatment. In this study there was a large placebo effect that narrowed the range over which to detect treatment differences.

This study was supported by CurOzone Inc. USA.