What Happens If You Put Dental Sealants Over A Cavity?
Brushing and flossing are excellent methods to prevent cavities. Unfortunately, it is practically impossible to reach every nook and corner of your mouth, including your back teeth, with your toothbrush. In addition, the molars are rough, uneven, and a place where food particles in the mouth and bacteria responsible for cavities can hide.
To overcome the problem of food particles and bacteria encouraging cavities development in your mouth, dentists have created a safety net to keep the molars clean. Dentists recommend dental sealants near you made from durable and transparent plastic that bonds to the chewing surfaces of the molars as a preventive measure against tooth decay. The adhesives don’t take the place of brushing and flossing but help keep cavities from forming and even prevent early decay from progressing into a full-blown hole.
How Do Dental Sealants Function?
Consider dental sealants in Bloomfield, CT, as a raincoat for your teeth. Cavity-causing bacteria in everyone’s mouths enjoy the leftover food particles on the molars to produce toxins that create holes in the tooth. When your child receives an application of sealants over their molars, the preventive measure keeps the food particles out and prevents bacteria from depositing toxins on the tooth. Therefore sealants function as a raincoat to keep your molars dry during a storm.
Dental sealants help against 80 percent of cavities on children’s teeth for the first two years after an application. The protection remains ongoing against 50 percent of holes for another four years. The sealants stay on the teeth for up to nine years. However, sealants need regular monitoring during routine appointments because they are prone to chipping and breaking.
Who Can Receive Dental Sealants?
There is a perception that sealants are exclusively for children and not everyone else. The perception is because of the lack of information about this efficient preventive measure. In reality, children and adults both benefit from sealants because the structure of their molars doesn’t change. If children’s molars have pits and fissures, adult teeth are no different and have deep grooves comfortable for trapping food particles.
Children are better suited to get sealants on molars soon after they begin to emerge. The first molar appears at six and the second at 12. Sealing the molars soon after emerging ensures they remain cavity free from the beginning helping to save time and money later. Adults with unrestored teeth can also have dental sealants over their molars.
The Dental Sealant Procedure
Dental sealants are technically sensitive to their placement and are best applied by the pediatric dentist in Bloomfield, CT.
The dentist initially cleans and dries the tooth before applying an etching solution over it to roughen its surface to ensure it creates a robust bond between the molar and the sealant. Next, the dentist rinses the etching solution and dries the tooth again before applying the sealant into the pits and fissures of the tooth. Finally, the dentist uses ultraviolet light to harden the sealant.
Can You Have Dental Sealants over a Cavity?
Getting sealants over a deep cavity defeats the purpose of having them as a preventive measure against tooth decay. However, if your child has signs of early decay, getting them dental sealants prevents further damage to their molars. In addition, sealants have a transparent appearance permitting dentists to keep an eye on the tooth to ensure the adhesive is functioning appropriately.
Are Sealants Expensive?
The prices for dental sealants on children’s molars will cost $ 30-$ 60 per tooth, with insurance and discount plans reducing the expenses further. However, adults seeking sealants on their molars might have to pay extra for the preventive measure. Therefore, they will find it beneficial to discuss prices with their dentist before requesting the procedure.
What happens to children’s molars without sealants?
Merely 43 percent of children from high-income households have sealants on their molars and report three times fewer cavities than children without sealants from low-income families. Holes on the molars prevent children from attending school, eating, sleeping, and performing other everyday activities. In addition, parents are required to schedule dental appointments to treat the permanent damage to their teeth with expensive fillings and other remedies. If prevention is better than any cure, dental sealants are an excellent example to authenticate they are not a waste of time but a benefit that helps avoid many complications in children’s mouths.
Bloomfield Pediatric Dentistry provides dental sealants to children as a preventive measure against cavities. The adhesive is effective even against early decay and helps your child prevent suffering from additional damage to the pit. If you have a kid at home without sealants, consider getting them this excellent remedy from the practice mentioned above today.