Is It Worth It To Get Sealant On Teeth?

Whenever you take your child to the pediatric dentist, the professional will likely recommend applying dental sealants on the back teeth, the molars, and the pre-molars. Even if your child’s teeth and gums are healthy dental sealants play a crucial role in maintaining oral hygiene and health.

Dental sealants are not exclusively created for children; adults can also consider having them on their molars. However, dental sealants provide the best benefits if applied to the molars of children between five and 13.

Dental Sealants Explained

Dental sealants are slimy plastic coatings painted on the chewing surfaces of the pre-molars and molars. The chewing surfaces of the back teeth have tiny pits and fissures comfortable for the entrapment of food particles and bacteria, making them vulnerable to cavities and gum disease.

The molars are challenging to clean with a toothbrush and dental floss, and the bacteria trapped in them start eroding tooth enamel by depositing acids on them. However, after applying dental sealants, the material bonds firmly to the tooth surface to seal the pits and fissures, significantly reducing the risk of cavities and gum disease. The smoother surface created by dental signals also makes brushing and flossing comfortable and straightforward.

Dental Sealants for Different Age Groups

If you think dental sealants are beneficial for your molars, you can visit the dentist in Murrieta, CA, and consult whether you are eligible for the treatment. Dental sealants weren’t created merely for children and were designed for teeth with deep grooves and pits. Therefore if you desire dental sealants on your molars to prevent cavities, you can also receive the same plastic coating on your teeth in a comfortable and painless treatment completed by the dentist in approximately 30 minutes. However, you might not be able to receive dental sealants if you already have restorations on the molars. Therefore inquiring with the Murrieta dentist helps determine whether or not you can receive dental sealants on your molars.

What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Sealants?

Dental sealants offer many advantages when applied to the molars by helping prevent cavities and gum disease. Unfortunately, children without dental sealants generally lose school time from tooth pain resulting from cavities on their teeth. In addition, they need dental treatments to fill holes or more intensive procedures like root canals and extractions.

Dental sealants do not require considerable investments because the treatment is affordable, and the costs are further reduced by insurance companies and discount plans offered by many organizations.

Dental sealants prevent cavities from developing on children’s teeth by 80 percent for the initial two years after the application. The protection remains ongoing for another four years against 50 percent cavities. The sealants stay on the teeth for approximately nine years. In addition, the treatment is painless, straightforward, and affordable, making it a therapy worthy of having on children’s teeth because they are susceptible to cavities.

The disadvantage of dental sealants is their durability because they need reapplication every five to ten years for chipping and cracking. In addition, if the providing dentist doesn’t clean the teeth appropriately before sealing them, bacteria and plaque gets sealed beneath the sealant to cause more harm. Finally, not everyone is eligible for dental sealants, especially patients with extensive cavities with damaged teeth.

Are You a Good Candidate for Dental Sealants?

A perception exists in everyone’s mind that children are the only candidates for dental sealants to prevent cavities on their newly developing teeth. Unfortunately, your mouth bacteria don’t discriminate between adults and children and can make you a victim of tooth decay before you realize it. Therefore you find it beneficial to discuss professional dental sealants with the Murrieta dentist to determine whether you are a candidate to receive them.

The dentist will examine your teeth before advising you about your candidacy. As mentioned earlier, if you have restored teeth with extensive cavities, the damage makes you ineligible for the treatment. However, if you don’t have holes in the molars, the dentist confirms your eligibility for the treatment and provides it in a simple procedure requiring merely 30 minutes.

The dental sealant procedure isn’t intensive. The dentist merely needs to clean your molars to ensure they remove any debris and bacteria on your teeth before applying the sealant. Your teeth are roughed with an etching solution that helps make the sealant adhere to the molar. The tooth undergoes cleaning and drying again before finally receiving the dental sealant on the chewing surface and the dentist hardening it with ultraviolet light.

Schedule a Consultation

If this article convinces you of the veracity of dental sealants for your teeth or your children’s teeth, kindly schedule a consultation with StarWhite Dental to receive this excellent preventive measure to avoid cavities and gum disease and save plenty of money from a therapy that helps keep your dental and general health optimal.