Dental Sealants

[LestatZinnie]

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hi all

i just read about dental sealants, which can practically 100% protect against cavity. Has sealants been around for long? How come I was never offered the treatment? Would sealants put dentists out of jobs?

thanks for your insights

 

[mr thirsty]

Don't worry, sealants will not put dentists out of their jobs. First of all, sealants don't last forever and also someone has to apply the sealant onto the tooth, and there is a ton of other things aside from sealants and fillings that dentists do. As for sealants, they have been around for quite a long time and they are a part of the whole movement towards preventive dentistry. One of the reasons, in my opinion, why you were not offered sealants by your dentist might be how old your dentist is. I've heard that "Old School" dentists are known to be all about drill-n-fill as opposed to preserving tooth structure. Personally, I didn't know about sealants, and by the time I found out about them, my mouth was full of amalgam and I also learned that my insurance didn't cover them.

Hope this helps,

 

[LestatZinnie]

i did a bit more research and found out that it's been around since the 60's. I've been to at least 3 dentists in the last 2 years and none of them are over 40...so I dunno why I wasn't offered. The sealants last 5-10 years though...so if it really works as good as all the websites say it does (100% prevention), and parents learn more about it (information gets spread faster these days), I can see trouble for some dentists who deal with the younger crowd. As one prominent dentist has said, dentistry is the only profession which tries to put itself out of business by getting better at it. I sure hope this won't happen in my life time, as selfish as it sounds, i need to make some dough @_@

mcgill
dmd 2007

 

[UBTom]

Hi LestatZinnie:

Sealants are indeed effective, yes. But it's definitely not a 100% preventive measure.

Sealants work best in pits and fissures on posterior teeth. Sealants will do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING AT ALL to prevent interproximal caries (i.e. carious lesions that require Class-II or Class-III restorations). That's where flossing and fluoridated water comes in.

Sealants, fluoridated water, regular checkups/cleanings, oral hygiene and dietary instruction are all essential components of a comprehensive caries prevention approach. Thing is, none of these things will be very effective on their own-- They all have to be done at the same time to maximize the preventive effect. When a child has all of these things going, he/she stands a good chance of growing up without any cavities at all.

HTH!