Objectives: The purpose of this systematic review was to evaluate the relationship between scientific and technological information concerning dentin desensitizers. Besides, a systematic review in patents databases was performed with the aim of analyzing how the technology of this material is being protected and which companies and countries have the most deposited patents.
Methods: Systematic electronic search was performed on American (USPTO), Japanese (JPO), Brazilian (INPI) and European (EPO) patents databases. Scientific information was obtained from a systematic review in the following electronic databases: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Scielo. The inclusion criteria for abstracts and patents selections were studies and products related to dentin desensitizers between 1965 and 2011. It was initially found 285 patents (74 duplicated patents) and 1181 abstracts (386 duplicated abstracts). After removing the duplicates, data were analyzed by Microsoft Office Excel 2010 software.
Results: 37% of the patents examined were deposited between 2000 and 2011. In the same period, 47% of the articles were published. Meanwhile, only 4% of the patents and 12% of the articles are from 1965 until 1980. According to countries with priority in patents, The United States hold 57%, followed by Japan with 21%. Colgate-Palmolive Company had the largest number of deposited patents (n=22), while Block Drug Company was the second one (n=14).
Conclusions: Only The United States hold more than half of patent applications, with the American companies Colgate-Palmolive and Block Drug being responsible for the majority of them. Besides, the data suggest that, although the scientific and technological knowledge are interrelated, much of scientific knowledge in this area has not become technological innovation.