Preventive Dental Sealants reduce Cavities

Dental Sealants For Children

All children are prone to cavities. Aside from encouraging regular brushing and flossing, sealants are one of the most preventative, cost-effective things parents can do to protect their child’s teeth from cavities. Best of all, sealants are simple, painless and shot-free!

What are Dental Sealants?

Dental sealants are a protective plastic coating placed on the chewing surfaces of back molars to stop plaque and decay from forming. Sealants protect molars by creating a barrier between the tooth and decay-causing bacteria. Sealants can also prevent very mild decay from progressing. If you want a good visual of what a sealant is imagine two mountains next to each other. Those mountains have peaks and valleys. Now run your tongue around your teeth. You feel sharp points on your teeth right? Those are like mountain tops. And just like mountain tops that come to valleys, our teeth have deep valleys called grooves. Some grooves are very deep and when you brush your teeth, the bristles of your tooth brush do not reach the bottom of the valleys. If they don’t, food, debris, bacteria, plaque, etc accumulate in those grooves and eventually cause cavities. Sealants fill in the deep grooves to prevent food and bacteria to settle into the grooves and thereby prevent cavities!

When Should My Child Get Dental Sealants?

Children become candidates for sealants as soon as their adult molars come in (usually between ages 6-12). Sealants typically last 2-4 years and are maintained during routine dental check-ups. Make an appointment with Circle C Dental today and get your child started on the road to excellent dental health for life. We love seeing kids and offer pediatric dental care.