A comparison of a reformulated potassium citrate desensitising toothpaste with the original proprietary product.

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Zinc and Potassium Citrate in this randomized controlled trial publication.

The aim of this study was to compare the desensitising effects of a modified formulation with the established product.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 56 subjects were involved.

The study was a randomised, double blind, two treatment parallel design comparing an existing potassium citrate toothpaste product (Positive Control) with the same formulation to which triclosan and zinc citrate had been added (Test).

A total of 56 subjects with dentine hypersensitivity (DH) completed the 8 week study period.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized, double-blind and parallel-group.

Because people in this Zinc study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

As a double-blind Zinc study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.

The Zinc group and the comparison group ran side by side rather than switching.

At baseline, days 14 and 56 visual analogue scale scores were recorded by the subjects in response to air evaporative and cold water stimuli.

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Anti-Infective Agents, Local, Citric Acid, Dentin Sensitivity, Potassium Citrate, Toothpastes, Triclosan and Zinc.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and parallel-group study of Zinc and Potassium Citrate in 56 subjects.

Its findings take up roughly 3 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2005 (Journal of dentistry), a journal based in England.

More context: the related Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc library page, all human trials.