Objective To estimate the effect of desensitizing toothpaste containing arginine on dentine hypersensitivity. Methods Such databases as CNKI, PubMed, Web of Science and Cochrane Trials Register (Issue 4, 2008) were retrieved, and Google was used as a supplementary tool to search the information up to March 2010. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of treating dentine hypersensitivity with arginine-containing toothpaste were included, and the relevant information was extracted and the quality evaluation was undertaken. Meta-analyses were performed with RevMan 5.0 software. Results Five RCTs with 397 patients were included. The results of meta-analyses showed that at 8 weeks, arginine-containing toothpaste was significantly different from potassium-containing toothpaste in terms of tactile sensitivity test (SMD=1.32, 95%CI 0.68 to 1.96) and air blast test (SMD= –0.77, 95%CI –1.22 to 0.32) with a better therapeutic effect. Conclusion Current literature evidence shows that the arginine-containing toothpaste is effective for the dentine hypersensitivity. However, this study is based on a small number of RCTs and samples, so further studies with high-quality and large-sample RCTs are needed.