Answering All Your Questions on Dental Sealants

What are dental sealants?

Dental sealants are thin plastic materials which are typically placed onto the back teeth in order to prevent tooth decay. This is used to seal the grooves and pits in your teeth, particularly molars and premolars. They harden over time to become permanent.

Why do kids need sealants?

Kids are the most susceptible to tooth decay. Therefore, kids should get sealants as soon as the first permanent molars and premolars appear, according to the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. Sealants work on the surfaces of the teeth as a protective layer and avoid decay at a young age. This helps children maintain their oral health and aesthetic smiles for a long time.

How do sealants work?

Molars and premolars are uneven and therefore, food particles tend to stick to them over time, causing tooth decay. Sealants make these surfaces smoother, so that food particles are not trapped in those grooves and pits!

Are sealants safe?

Yeah, there are healthy and durable. For almost six decades, dentists have been using sealants and the damage caused by dental sealants has never been rare to none.

How long do dental sealants last?

Dental sealants typically last with proper care for one decade. They are, however, prone to scratching and rough brushing and flossing of the teeth. Therefore, their service life is usually roughly 6-8 years.

The procedure of getting dental sealants

Dental sealants usually require one appointment.

• • The dentist, first of all, brushes the tooth, often with an electric toothbrush.
  • Second, the positions gauze to keep the tooth dry.
  • Third, the roughening of the tooth surface is done with an acidic solution. This is because the sealants adhere well to rough surfaces.
  • Fourth, rinse the tooth and drying it up again.
  • Fifth, the sealant is applied on the tooth, usually on the rear side.

Isn’t brushing enough?

Your toothbrush bristles can’t get rid of the germs at the back of your teeth entirely and have a hard time effectively hitting the pits and grooves. The question is, why would you leave it to your toothbrush when in the first place, you could seal the areas which are susceptible to decay? There’s one option that you might consider though.

Fluoride is the best defense against tooth decay and the fastest one as well. Therefore, dentists recommend that you use toothpaste with fluoride. Besides that, you can also drink fluoridated water to keep the bacteria away from your mouth!

Want to know more? Considering a dental sealant? Get a dental sealant from the best dentist in Plantation, FL.