In today’s dentistry, we place great importance on treatment choices and products that can greatly reduce future dental problems and needs. This is called Preventive Dentistry. An excellent preventive treatment option is to apply Sealants to the decay prone areas of your teeth—mainly the dimples and grooves (“pits and fissures”) that are naturally occurring especially on the back teeth chewing surfaces. For years dentists have placed sealants on the back teeth of children and young patients in an effort to prevent cavities in these areas. This simple technique is quick, comfortable and inexpensive. A strong composite material is flowed into the cleaned and prepared “pits and fissures” of the teeth, then hardened with a special bonding light. This technique prevents bacteria that produce acids from residing in these hard to clean areas, and ultimately is very effective at preventing cavities from developing. Today, sealants are also often recommended on adults as well for the same preventive purpose.
Some areas of teeth, such as the areas in between the teeth cannot be sealed in the way described because there is no access or space in between teeth for this technique to work. For these areas of teeth other preventive strategies can be done such as the regular use of fluoride toothpaste, good home care techniques including flossing, and in office fluoride use at your periodic dental visits. Fluoride is proven to make your tooth enamel far more resistant to acid and decay, and has been shown to reduce cavities by 50%–in other words, on average, half as many cavities occur in people who use preventive fluoride than those who do not.
Dr. Emerson believes strongly in preventive techniques such as sealants, and will recommend placement of sealants and fluoride use whenever it is likely to help you avoid getting cavities. The most common placement of sealants will be in youngsters when their first permanent molars begin to grow in (erupt) at about age 6 or 7 years, then again at about age 12 years when the second permanent molars erupt. Have your children’s teeth (and your teeth) examined soon to see if preventive placement of sealants could be done to help you and your family avoid cavities!