Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of root coverage surgery in reducing dentin hypersensitivity (DH) through a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Data sources: Unrestricted search of four indexed databases up to September 2022 was performed to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the effect of root coverage surgery on DH frequency and/or intensity presurgically (baseline) and at least 3 months postsurgically. Two authors independently conducted study screening and data extraction. Subgroup meta-analyses were performed separately for stimulated and unstimulated DH frequency and intensity at different timepoints. The risk of bias and quality of the available evidence were assessed.
Results: Nineteen RCTs presenting data from 7 days to 30 months after root coverage surgery with various treatment modalities were included from the 662 identified studies. A total of 486 patients contributed 784 recession defects. Results from the subgroup meta-analyses showed that, overall, root coverage surgery reduced the risk for DH by 67% (RR, 0.33; 95% CI, 0.21 to 0.53) and 53% (RR, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.38 to 0.58) upon unstimulated and stimulated DH assessment, respectively. The DH intensity was also significantly reduced (mean visual analog score difference, 2.37; 95% CI, 2.02 to 2.71) upon stimulated DH assessment. No significant changes in DH intensity were observed upon unstimulated DH assessment. The included studies did not have high risk of bias and the quality of evidence was low to high.
Conclusion: Existing evidence suggests that root coverage surgery may effectively reduce the DH frequency and intensity.
Keywords: dentin hypersensitivity; gingival recession; surgical flaps.