The incidence of ‘hypersensitive’ teeth in the West of Scotland

Abstract

The incidence of ‘hypersensitive’ teeth was investigated in 369 patients by means of a questionnaire and intraoral testing with a cold-water mouthrinse (CWMR) and a sharp probe. Patients' subjective evaluations were found to be unreliable. Of the 103 patients who thought they had ‘sensitive’ teeth, only 62 responded positively to the intraoral tests. Around 29 per cent of patients reported discomfort with the CWMR, but when those with obvious causes for the pain (e.g., caries, cracked enamel) were excluded, the incidence of sensitivity to the CWMR was found to be 18 per cent. The incidence of sensitivity to CWMR and probing was 8·7 per cent. More females than males had sensitive teeth, but the differences were not statistically significant.