Things You Need To Keep In Mind about Sealants

The permanent teeth are meant to last a lifetime. To ensure this, you will have to make sure that you are taking good care of your dental health by sticking to oral hygiene routine and visiting the dentist on regular basis. Here, it may be important to mention that you might need to get some other treatments to make sure that your teeth remain in your oral cavity for longer time. One of the preventative dental treatments is the application of dental sealants.

Dental sealants

A dental sealant is the thin plastic which is applied on the back molars and premolars. It is applied on the chewing surface of the teeth. Good thing is that the sealants remain invisible when you speak.

The purpose of dental sealants

The main purpose of dental sealant is to prevent decay in the teeth that are hard to brush. You may know how difficult it can be to brush the back molars. Children have this difficulty more than any other. Thus, they are more likely to have cavities on the back teeth. Another reason for having the back teeth covered with sealants is that those teeth usually have pits and grooves on their chewing surfaces. These pits and grooves are specifically difficult to clean. Hence, they can turn out to be the breeding places of bacteria. The plaque and tartar can get settled there and cause tooth to decay severely. If you get those grooves cleaned properly and then covered by sealants, you are not going to get the cavities developed there.

Application of dental sealants

The application of dental sealant is quite simple process. It is painless and doesn’t require the use of anesthesia. In the first step, the dental hygienist will clean the area to be sealed. Plaque and tartar will be removed. After cleaning, the area will be dried. An acidic gel is then used for the purpose of etching the area. This etching will allow the dental sealant to get hold of the tooth’s surface. After the etching is done and the tooth is dried well, dentist will then apply dental sealant. Dental sealant usually consists of glass and plastic. After the desired area is covered with the sealant, the dentist will then use curing light to harden the sealant. The sealant will last for a number of years to come. It may wear out eventually but it will do the job of protecting the teeth from decay.