The Process of Getting Dental Sealants

In general dentistry, the primary concept of dental care is centered toward preventive measures of taking care of the oral cavity. This means that general dentists in Royse city spend a significant part of their days educating patients on the importance of taking proactive measures in oral health. A good place to start is by scheduling regular dental visits, allowing your dentist to weigh in a couple of opinions about your oral health.

From your dental appointments, you will learn something about the role of oral sealants in dentistry. Their value is often undervalued by adults until they know just how much they are useful for.

What Are Dental Sealants?

They are plastic-like materials usually applied to the chewing surfaces of teeth as a preventive measure. The thin plastic coating on your teeth firmly adheres to your teeth, sealing out any bacteria and plaque from damaging the enamel of your teeth.

On most occasions, people have compared oral sealants with dental fillings having that they both fill teeth. However, the two cannot be further different. Technically, the primary role of dental sealants is to protect teeth from oral cavities, while oral fillings are used to repair teeth that have cavities.

Dental sealants only fill the chewing surfaces of teeth, ideally occupying the pits and depressions of teeth. This means that they are only useful for the back teeth. Their effectiveness can be relied on, having that molars and premolars are more susceptible to dental cavities.

Who Needs Dental Sealants?

Over the years, oral sealants have popularly been used for children’s teeth, particularly between the ages of 6 and 14 years. This is because that is the stage where children are more prone to dental cavities. Children need extra help to help them keep up with proper oral hygiene and maintain excellent oral health.

However, even adults can benefit from them, by having an advantage in the fight against oral cavities. Even though adults are not as prone to dental cavities as children, they can still get cavities. The best way to protect teeth from the daunting damage of dental decay is by disallowing cavities from developing in the first place.

How are Sealants Applied?

The application of oral sealants is an easy process. The plastic-like material is applied only to the chewing surfaces of the back teeth. This means that the procedure is quick and non-invasive. Some of the steps included in the application process are:

• Cleaning – the teeth to be sealed are first thoroughly cleaned to remove any food residues and bacteria. This makes sure that no plaque is sealed in with the tooth, which will eventually cause dental decay.
• Drying – a swab will be used to dry the target tooth, in preparation for the sealant substance.
• Roughening the surface – as is, your natural tooth may not adhere properly to the sealant. This is why an acidic liquid is used to roughen the surface for a more successful bonding process.
• Rinsing – the liquid is rinsed off and dried properly.
• Application – the sealant substance is painted over the chewing surface. This substance is in a putty-like form. Upon application, it begins to harden. Sometimes Curing light is used to speed up the drying process.

Do Sealants Cause Any Side Effects?

Having that sealants are used on children’s teeth more than in adults, it is natural to worry about the safety of the procedure. Fortunately, there is not much to worry about when it comes to dental sealants. The material used is safe for all humans. In fact, sealants can even be used on younger children for their baby teeth.

However, you should be in the lookout for sealant-related problems like:

• Teeth sensitivity
• Chipping or cracking
• Wearing out

This should not concern you too much. Your attending dentist will guide you on how to better care for your sealants. Aside from that, the regular dental checkups will be the ideal way to get your sealants checked. Besides, you can bank on up to 10 years of teeth protection before you need to replace the sealants. The better news is that you may never have to deal with dental decay and any other related oral problems.