Dental Sealants are a safe and painless way of protecting your children’s teeth from decay.  A sealant is a protective plastic coating which is applied to the biting surfaces of the back teeth.  The sealant forms a hard shield that keeps food and bacteria from getting into the tiny grooves in the teeth and causing decay.

Sealants are only applied to the back teeth – the molars and premolars.  These are the teeth that have pits and fissures on their biting surfaces.  Dr. Karol will tell you which teeth should be sealed after they have been examined, and checked whether the fissures are deep enough for sealing to help.  Some teeth naturally form with deep grooves, which will need to be sealed, others with shallow ones which will not need sealing.

The process is usually quick and straightforward taking only a few minutes per tooth.  The tooth is thoroughly cleaned, prepared with a special solution, and dried.  The liquid sealant is then applied and allowed to set hard – usually by shining an ultraviolet light onto it.

Sealants are often applied as soon as the permanent teeth start to come through.  This is usually between 6 and 7 years of age.  The rest are usually sealed as soon as they appear which can be any time between 11 and 14 years of age.

• American Dental Association
• Healthfinder.gov
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research