Effect of commercially available and experimental potassium oxalate-based dentin desensitizing agents in dentin permeability: influence of time and filtration system.

This study evaluated the influence of time after application of oxalate solutions in reducing dentin hydraulic conductance. Fifty dentin discs were obtained from extracted human third molars and assigned to 5 groups (n=10), according to the desensitizing agent used: Group I: OxaGel; Group II: experimental agent DD-1: Group III: experimental agent DD-2. In Groups IV and V, a placebo gel and deionized water were used as control, respectively. The agents were applied for 3 min, washed out and the hydraulic conductance was measured immediately and at 5-, 15- and 30-min intervals, and after acid etching. Data were analyzed statistically by two-way ANOVA and Duncan's test at 5% significance level. Groups I, II and III did not differ significantly from each other in any of the time intervals (p>0.05). Likewise, Groups IV and V were statistically similar to each other (p>0.05). The active agents reduced significantly dentin permeability in comparison to control groups (p<0.05). Dentin permeability measured in vitro decreased significantly with time regardless of the agent applied (either active or control agents). The results of Group V, in which no dentin desensitizing agent was employed, indicates that the assessment of dentin permeability by this method must be interpreted with caution.