ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Tooth sensitivity commonly occurs during and immediately after dental bleaching. The authors conducted a trial to compare tooth sensitivity after in-office bleaching after the use of either a topical dipyrone or placebo gel. METHODS: A split-mouth, triple-blind, randomized, multicenter clinical trial was conducted among 120 healthy adults having teeth that were shade A2 or darker. The facial tooth surfaces of the right or left sides of the maxillary arch of each patient were randomly assigned to receive either topical dipyrone or placebo gel before 2 in-office bleaching sessions (35% hydrogen peroxide) separated by 2 weeks. Visual analog and numerical rating scales were used to record tooth sensitivity during and up to 48 hours after bleaching. Tooth color change from baseline to 1 month after bleaching was measured with shade guide and spectrophotometer measures. The primary outcome variable was absolute risk of tooth sensitivity. An intention-to-treat analysis was used to analyze data from all patients who were randomly assigned to receive the dipyrone and placebo gels. RESULTS: No statically significant difference was found in the absolute risk of tooth sensitivity between the dipyrone and placebo gels (83% and 90%, respectively, P = .09; relative risk, 0.92; 95% confidence interval, 0.8 to 1.0). A whitening effect was observed in both groups with no statistically significant difference (P > .05) between them. No adverse effects were observed. CONCLUSION: Topical use of dipyrone gel before tooth bleaching, at the levels used in this study, did not reduce the risk or intensity of bleaching-induced tooth sensitivity. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Topical application of dipyrone gel does not reduce bleaching-induced tooth sensitivity.
