Archives of Current Research International

Background: Dentin hypersensitivity is a short, stimulus-evoked pain condition arising from exposed dentine and is managed with home-use and professionally applied agents that target neural excitability, dentinal tubule patency, or both. Direct comparative findings are dispersed across diverse formulations, application schedules and outcome instruments.

Objective: To compare the clinical effectiveness, durability, patient-reported effects and tolerability of different desensitising agents for primary dentin hypersensitivity.

Methods: A systematic review of randomized comparative studies published from 1 January 1996 to 30 June 2026 was conducted. On 07 July 2026, finite public web-index searches restricted to PubMed, PubMed Central and ClinicalTrials.gov pages were executed with eleven recorded search packages, supplemented by backward citation and exact-title retrieval. Screening, extraction and RoB 2 appraisal were completed by a single-reviewer. Quantitative pooling was not undertaken because interventions, delivery methods, stimuli, scales, time points and units of analysis were not sufficiently compatible. Results were synthesised using SWiM principles and outcome-specific GRADE judgments.

Results: The searches identified 134 records; 27 duplicates were removed, 107 records were screened, 52 full-text reports were assessed and 41 reports describing 43 randomized studies were included. Seventeen studies evaluated home-use dentifrices or rinses, 14 evaluated in-office chemicals, varnishes, adhesives or iontophoresis, and 12 evaluated lasers or photobiomodulation. Most active treatments reduced sensitivity from baseline, but direct superiority was inconsistent and often depended on stimulus, time point and measurement scale. Seven studies were at low overall risk of bias, 24 had some concerns and 12 were at high risk. Certainty was low for medium-term home-use effectiveness and very low for in-office, laser, long-term and safety outcomes.

Conclusions: Several desensitising strategies may reduce dentin hypersensitivity, but the evidence does not establish a universally superior agent. Home-use occluding or potassium-based formulations have the most substantial comparative evidence, whereas in-office and laser hierarchies remain uncertain. Selection should consider formulation, patient preference, access, retreatment burden and the limited certainty of long-term and safety evidence.