Clinical evaluation of cervical dentin sensitivity (CDS) in patients attending general dental clinics (GDC) and periodontal specialty clinics (PSC).

AIM The objective of this study was to compare the prevalence, severity and distribution of CDS in patients attending general dental clinics (GDC) and periodontal specialty clinics (PSC) and to correlate them to possible causal factors. MATERIAL AND METHODS 2 groups of patients aged 20-60 years recruited from GDC (144) and PSC (151) were evaluated for CDS by means of a questionnaire and intraoral clinical examinations. Furthermore, gingival recession and plaque scores were recorded at the same visit. RESULTS The results showed that patients referred to PSC had a significantly higher prevalence of CDS (60.3%) than those examined at GDC (42.4%) (p<0.001). Also, mean plaque scores of PSC patients (1.87 +/- 0.88) was found to be significantly higher than that of GDC (1.44 +/- 0.7) (p<0.01). The occurrence and extent of gingival recession associated with hypersensitive teeth was significantly higher in PSC than GDC patients (p<0.01), with a 5% incidence of severe recession (5 mm) in PSC only. The association of periodontal disease and periodontal treatment to the high prevalence of CDS and gingival recession in PSC patients would suggest their role in predisposition to hypersensitivity. The distribution of CDS in tooth types revealed that upper molars and lower anteriors of PSC patients were mainly affected, and followed by, to a lesser extent, lower right canine and right first molars of GDC patients. CONCLUSION The prevalence of CDS among our periodontal patients appears somewhat lower than that reported in periodontal specialty clinics of earlier studies but still higher than those reported in other dental populations. This indicates that periodontal disease and its treatments may increase the occurrence of hypersensitivity.