Effects of conducting media and gender on an electric pulp test

Abstract

Aims: (1) To determine the pulpal sensory thresholds in human teeth obtained from using various EPT conducting media and (2) to determine whether there are gender differences. Methodology: One intact maxillary central incisor was randomly selected from each of 40 participants (20 male, 20 female) aged 19-24 year. A constant-current electrical stimulator (University of Bristol, UK) was used to apply electrical stimuli with different conducting media at intervals of 1 min on the middle of the crown to evaluate the sensory threshold of the tooth. The tip of the electrode was coated with a thin layer of test media. The sensory thresholds and the pain scores were measured simultaneously after applying stimuli twice a second and gradually increasing the intensity until felt by the participants. Test media included water-based gels (K-Y UltraGel; Xylocaine 2% Jelly, electrode gel, fluoride gel) and toothpastes (Colgate Total; Sensodyne Repair & Protect; Dentiste' Plus White; Sparkle White). The sensory threshold data were evaluated using two-way anova followed by the Tukey test. Results: Xylocaine 2% Jelly and fluoride gel evoked significantly lower threshold values when compared with Sensodyne Repair & Protect (P < 0.001). With all test media, the mean sensory threshold from the female group was significantly lower than that of the male group (P < 0.001). Conclusion: The sensory thresholds to electrical stimuli in human teeth was influenced by the type of conducting media and gender. © 2016 International Endodontic Journal. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.