To understand how effective dental sealant is, it is important to understand some basic information about dental sealants. Dental sealants are thin, plastic coatings that are painted onto the chewing surfaces of your teeth in order to fill and block up the grooves and small pits in the teeth to prevent tooth decay and bacteria build-up. Dental sealants are usually painted onto the back teeth – premolars and molars – since they are parts mostly used for chewing.
Dental sealants bond quickly into the grooves and depressions of your teeth to form a protective shield over each tooth enamel. Dental sealants are important because even though you observe proper oral hygiene, such as thorough and regular brushing and flossing can easily remove food chunk and debris from the smooth surfaces of your teeth, it cannot always remove the food chunk and debris in the nooks and crannies of the back teeth.
Therefore, the dental sealants protect these vulnerable dental areas from tooth decay by sealing the teeth against plaque and food chunks.
Who Should Get Dental Sealants Treatment?
Children and teenagers have a high likelihood of developing dental decay in the grooves and depressions of the premolars and molars. Therefore, they are highly recommended candidates for dental sealants treatment. However, an adult that does not already have dental decay or dental fillings in their premolars and molars can as well benefit from dental sealants treatment.
Normally, children and teenagers should get the dental sealants on their permanent molars and premolars immediately these teeth come in. This will help to protect their teeth all through their cavity-prone years, which is usually between the ages of 6 to 14.
For children and teenagers, the type of diets they take and their love for sugary foods puts them at very high risk of developing dental decay and cavities. Fortunately, dental sealants treatment gives their premolars and molars a durable layer of protection. Studies have shown that children and teenagers without dental sealants treatment are 3 times more likely to develop dental cavities and dental decay.
In certain conditions, dental sealants treatment may also be recommended for baby teeth, especially when the baby teeth have deep grooves and depressions. Since the child’s baby teeth play a very important role in creating the right spacing for permanent teeth, it is essential to keep these baby teeth healthy to prevent them from getting lost too early.
How Dental Sealants Are Applied?
Dental sealants application follows a very simple and painless treatment process. Normally, applying the sealant to seal each tooth takes only a few minutes and it can be done easily by your dentist near me. Applying a dental sealant involves the following application steps:
- Foremost, the teeth to receive the dental sealants treatment must be thoroughly cleaned.
- After cleaning, each tooth must be dried. This is achieved by placing a ball of cotton wool or any other absorbent material around the tooth to dry it.
- After drying out each tooth, an acidic solution is placed on the chewing surfaces of each tooth to roughen it up. This helps the dental sealant to bond well onto the surface of the tooth.
- The teeth are again rinsed and dried to get rid of the acidic solution.
- Finally, the dental sealants are painted individually onto the chewing surface of the tooth or all around the tooth enamel. The sealant is allowed to bond directly to each tooth and hardens. In some cases, a special curing light may be used to help harden the sealant.
How Long Do Dental Sealants Last?
Under normal circumstances, the dental sealant can last for a very long time. Typically, dental sealants can protect your teeth from dental decay and cavities for a full decade before they need to be replaced. Nonetheless, you need regular dental check-ups to check your dental sealants for wearing down and chipping. And in case you need a sealant replacement, your emergency dentist can quickly replace the sealant as necessary.
More so, your dental sealants may fall off sometimes, and if this happens your teeth lose their protective shields and may develop dental cavities. Therefore, your sealant should be regularly checked at dental appointments.
How Effective Are Dental Sealants?
If you have ever wondered about how effective dental sealants are? The truth is that dental sealants are one of the most effective dental treatments for protecting your smile and saving your teeth from dental caries, especially at a young age. More so, the effectiveness of the dental sealants depends on the level of training and experience of the dentist that applied it.
If the dental sealant is applied correctly by a well-trained and experienced dentist office near me, the sealant would turn out to be very effective. More so, dental sealants are special gel placed on the surface of your teeth and hardened by a special light. This makes them very tough and resistant to acid.
A single layer of dental sealants on your teeth can reduce your risk of dental cavities and decay by about 80 percent. Another reason why dental sealants are effective is that they appear very clear on your natural teeth and do not conceal the natural beauty and look of your smile.
How Safe Are Dental Sealants?
Dental sealants are safe for your oral health and you need not to have any concern over the safety of your dental sealant. Dental sealants contain a very small amount of BPA (Bisphenol A. BPA) so you should not be so bothered about the safety of this dental treatment. In fact, the benefits associated with dental sealants far outweigh any “non-existent” risk.
Does Insurance Cover the Cost of Sealants?
A dental sealant is preventive dentistry and not cosmetic dentistry. Therefore, it is covered by most insurance plans i.e. insurance covers the cost of dental sealants treatment. However, most insurance plans cover the cost of this treatment for only patients under the age of 18. It is, therefore, necessary that you check with your dental insurance company to know whether it would cover your dental sealants treatment cost or not.
Why wait until your oral health is deteriorating or your beautiful smile is marred by dental caries and cavities. Please book a dental examination with us today at our dentist’s office. Our professional team at URBN Dental looks forward to maintaining your smile with dental sealants. At URBN Dental, we offer top-quality dental treatment for your teeth enamels to help prevent any future dental problems.