"People Love Us On Google"

1470+ Google reviews

New patients Welcome! Extended hours!

Dental Sealants as Preventive Care in Pediatric Dentistry
September 15, 2016  |  Uncategorized

Dental Sealants as Preventive Care in Pediatric Dentistry

Cavities and tooth decay are most common in children and teenagers. While that is common, treating them with conventional methods like root canal therapy, or dental implants and bridges to replace the affected tooth is expensive. There is a cheaper, more effective solution in dental sealants. This can help you keep normal tooth functions and looks while helping prevent the tooth from developing cavities. It is important to keep up regular visits to your dental care professional to ensure that the sealant treatment continues.

Common treatments required in pediatric dentistry

Pediatric dentistry is a wide specialization that involves all kinds of dental treatments including general and cosmetic dentistry. However, the dentist handling the operations needs to be well-versed in the fragility of children’s teeth and how they grow. Regular checkups are always recommended so the changes on account of growth can be monitored.

Cavities are the most commonly found ailment in children and teenagers. However, getting implants and bridges for children’s milk teeth that will fall out eventually to make room for adult teeth is very expensive and ultimately unnecessary. Root canal therapy can be a painful experience for children and is not recommended. A simpler solution is to apply sealants that can help prevent cavities in the first place.

To read more dental-related articles Click here

Dental sealants and cavities


The best preventive care for cavities is to get dental sealants. This treatment is most commonly recommended for chewing teeth that haven’t developed cavities yet, but are showing signs of development. The most common sign of developing cavities is to locate narrow teeth grooves where bacteria and plaque can fester and contribute to enamel decay. Sealants help block access to the grooves and prevent cavities from forming.

The sealant treatment is conducted in four stages at the dentists.

  • The dentist will first clean the teeth properly to make sure that there aren’t any residual bacteria left in the mouth. The tooth is then dried using cotton.

  • An acid solution is used to roughen the enamel so that the sealant can bond well with the affected tooth.

  • The tooth is then carefully dried once more using cotton.

  • The final stage is having the sealant painted on the affected tooth. The coating helps cover the grooves and prevent bacteria from accumulating there.


The sealants treatment is also very effective for treating adult teeth. However, the treatment doesn’t work if the tooth has already been treated with fillings or root canal therapy. In those cases, adults have to look for other options instead of sealants.

Dental sealants for children’s teeth


Owing to the temporary nature of children’s teeth, the sealant treatments are more commonly recommended for children. The sealants last long enough to prevent cavities on the temporary teeth and once the adult teeth come out, you can conduct regular checkups with your dental care professional to ensure that your adult teeth grow the way it should.
×