Attempts have been made to treat dentine hypersensitivity (DH) with lasers. However, there is limited knowledge on the effects of erbium, chromium-doped:yttrium, scandium, gallium and garnet (Er,Cr:YSGG) laser on DH. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Er,Cr:YSGG laser on reduction in DH.
Forty-two patients (146 teeth) were included. Teeth were assigned to an experimental group and irradiated with the Er,Cr:YSGG laser. In the control group same clinical instrument was used without laser emission. DH was assessed for both groups utilizing the visual analog scale. Plaque index (PI) scores were recorded immediately following treatment, at 1 week, 1 and 3 months.
The results showed that Er,Cr:YSGG laser irradiation had a significantly higher desensitizing effect compared with the placebo immediately after treatment (p < 0.05). Intra-group comparisons revealed no statistically significant differences within the placebo group (p > 0.05). For the test group, the differences between baseline and all time points following treatment were statistically significant (p < 0.05). No significant differences were observed in PI between the test and control groups at any follow-up examination
Within the limits of this study, it appears that Er,Cr:YSGG laser is effective in the treatment of DH compared with the placebo treatment.