Dental sealants are a coating that the dentist puts on the grooves of your child’s back teeth to protect them.
When the first adult molars come out in your child’s mouth around 6 years of age, most parents do not realize their children had those molars.
Why? Because those first adult molars usually come out at the back, behind the milk teeth in your child’s mouth; therefore, not replacing any milk tooth.
Those new “adult molars” or “6-year-old molars” come with very deep grooves built-in. Often, food gets trapped in those grooves, especially starch, sweets (like biscuits and candies) and sticky food in general.
Sealants Work
Sealants on permanent molars reduce the risk of cavities by 80%.
–Journal of the American Dental Association
–Journal of the American Dental Association
Also, the toothbrush’s bristles are unable to wash those food debris out of those grooves. So, even if you brush your child’s teeth well, you might not be able to prevent cavities starting within those grooves especially if your child has a sweet tooth.
Therefore, one major way of preventing those permanent molars from getting decayed is to coat them with a “sealant” as soon as we see them out.
Placing sealants on the teeth is very simple and painless procedure a pediatric dentist can perform in a few minutes, but this can save you and your child from long dental expensive treatments in the future.
While the incidence of caries in children in the UAE remains quite high, preventing cavities is always better than treating them, and it’s also much cheaper!
Ask your pediatric dentist if your child needs dental sealants.
Dr. Rafif Tayara
DDS, CES, Ped. Dent
Specialist Pediatric Dentist, Canada
Children’s Dental Center, Dubai
DDS, CES, Ped. Dent
Specialist Pediatric Dentist, Canada
Children’s Dental Center, Dubai
