Purpose: To assess the prevalence of dentin hypersensitivity (DH) in an adult population and explore its association with sociodemographic variables, dietary habits and oral health behaviours as there is very little data on this from the Caribbean.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted of consecutive dental patients (18 years and over) attending the UWI School of Dentistry polyclinic. Following informed consent, dental examinations were performed and the presence of DH was assessed clinically by sensitivity to an air blast on individual teeth. Patients were also given a questionnaire. Their answers were processed using statistical software (SPSS version 24). Associations between variables were analysed using the chi-squared test.
Results: 300 patients participated, with an age range of 18–81 years and a mean age of 44.7 years (SD 15.7). 68.8% were female and the main ethnic groups were African (45.8%), Indian (29.8%) and mixed (24.4%). Over half of the participants (54.9%) reported a history of sensitive teeth and 52% reported sensitivity to the air syringe on one or more teeth. Based on multivariate logistic regression, a history of sensitive teeth was significantly associated with Indo-Trinidadian ethnicity (OR 2.24, 95% CI: 1.23, 4.45), a history of tooth grinding or jaw clenching (OR 0.38, 95% CI: 0.19, 0.76) and consumption of citrus fruits one to two times daily (OR 0.22, 95% CI: 0.06, 0.85). Those who experienced vomiting irregularly were more likely (OR 2.31, 95% CI: 0.96, 5.54) to have DH.
Conclusion: Prevalence of dentin hypersensitivity was high among this sample of dental patients and was associated with ethnicity, tooth grinding and dietary practices.