Prevalence and intensity of postoperative hypersensitivity during fixed prosthodontic treatment

Introduction: During fixed prosthodontic treatment, patients may present postoperative hypersensitivity. The prevalence rates contained in the literature on the topic range from a mere 3 % to 34 %. Objective: Determine the prevalence and intensity of postoperative hypersensitivity during fixed prosthodontic treatment of vital teeth. Methods: A pilot descriptive clinical study was conducted. The sample was 35 treated teeth from 20 patients. These patients had been treated by students from the Dental Center at the University of Los Andes, and had undergone fixed prosthodontic treatment on vital teeth from April to October 2015.Hypersensitivity during the treatment was recorded with the visual analog scale based on a diary kept by patients and on the verbal numerical rating scale as applied by the researcher at the various clinical stages. Results: Prevalence was 31.4 % with an intensity of 0.62 ± 0.49 by the visual analog scale and of 0 by the verbal numerical rating scale. Conclusions: The prevalence of postoperative hypersensitivity approached the highest range described in the literature, whereas the intensity of hypersensitivity ranged from mild to clinically imperceptible.