Fissure sealing in children

Caries is a serious and common problem in childhood. Since the baby's milk teeth are less durable, and cleaning is often not done well enough, bacteria actively develop on their surface, causing tooth damage. To prevent such a situation, different protective techniques are used. Fissure sealing is one of them.

What is it?

This is the name of the special treatment of the surface of the teeth, and more precisely, the most vulnerable areas to caries, called fissures. These areas are located in the recesses of the chewing teeth and are often poorly cleaned during normal hygienic cleaning. The essence of sealing is filling the recesses with a durable material that eliminates contact of the tooth with bacteria and food.

The procedure is completely painless, so children tolerate it well. Another advantage of using sealing in childhood is enamel strengthening. In a newly erupted tooth, it is not yet strong enough (not completely mineralized), therefore its resistance to bacteria is reduced. And since hygiene measures for children cannot be called ideal, and many babies love sweets very much, protecting their teeth with a sealant is a good solution.

Indications

Sealing is prescribed after examination by a dentist if the child has:

The fissures in the teeth are deep and narrow.
Fissures are pigmented, that is, they began to deteriorate under the influence of bacteria.
Fissures of one of the teeth are affected by caries.
There is no tooth on the opposite side or it is affected by caries.
Oral hygiene is insufficient.

Contraindications

The procedure is not prescribed if:

The fissures are wide and open.
The child has an intolerance to the substance used when sealing.
The tooth is affected by caries.
The adjacent surfaces of adjacent teeth are affected by caries.
The tooth erupted more than four years ago and is not affected by caries.

Methods and materials for the procedure

A material called a sealant is used for sealing. it high-strength special composite that hardens after exposure to light. It has a high fluidity, which allows the substance to get into the most inaccessible areas of the teeth.

In addition, the sealant is moisture resistant, that is, constant contact with saliva does not harm it. Because of these characteristics, the sealant applied to the teeth lasts on average 3-5 years, although there are cases when it has remained on the teeth for more than 10 years.

The hardening of the sealant can be caused in two ways:

By exposure to light. The substance hardens after using the lamp.
Chemical exposure. Curing occurs as a result of a chemical reaction.

Note also that the sealant is transparent (it is applied when there is a high risk of caries in the fissures) and colored (it is preferable to facilitate observation of the integrity of the coating). The most common drugs are Fissulite, UltraSeal XT and Fissurit.

How is the sealing procedure

Baby teeth

It is recommended to "seal" temporary teeth with a sealant immediately after their eruption, when the fissures are no longer covered by soft gum tissues. This often happens at the age of 2-2.5 years. If you hesitate to carry out sealing, you may not be in time with the treatment, since caries of the chewing teeth occurs quite quickly at such an early age.

Permanent teeth

Sealant treatment of such teeth is also recommended immediately after their eruption. Sealing is usually done in the first 6 months after the permanent tooth has appeared. At this time, its chewing surface is available for processing, and the enamel has not yet been destroyed by the action of pathogenic bacteria.

Procedure steps

The doctor performs professional cleaning to remove plaque as much as possible from the treated teeth and to achieve a dry and smooth surface.
The teeth are washed and dried, and then covered with cotton swabs to prevent saliva from getting on them.
The tooth is covered with a special glue to obtain a rough surface.
The tooth is washed and dried again, after which a sealant is applied to the fissures, distributing the substance evenly using a probe.
Using a lamp, the doctor stimulates the sealant to harden and checks for fullness of the fissures.
Using copy paper, the dentist identifies areas of application of excess substance, and then removes them with a grinding nozzle.

You can see this procedure visually in the following video.

Reviews

Most parents speak positively about the sealing of fissures, emphasizing that the teeth treated with the sealant in most cases are not affected by caries. They also note that the manipulation does not cause any discomfort to the child, which has a positive psychotherapeutic effect - children come to the next examination calmly. In addition, all parents emphasize that the cost of the procedure is much lower than caries treatment.

Negative reviews about sealing are often associated with the unprofessionalism of the dentist, due to which the sealant did not last long or did not protect against caries, for example, if the doctor looked at fissure caries and sealed the affected tooth from above. Some doctors also speak negatively about the sealant treatment. They are sure that in many cases such a procedure is not needed, but more attention should be paid to the hygiene and nutrition of the child.