Sealant

Sealants

The first step in maintaining a healthy mouth is preventing tooth decay, and sealants can offer major protection against cavities. Your teeth are covered with a sticky film of bacteria, called plaque. When you don't clean your teeth after eating, plaque bacteria use sugar and starch in food as a source of energy. The bacteria convert the sugar or starch into harmful acids that attack tooth enamel for as long as twenty minutes or more. Repeated attacks may cause the enamel to break down, resulting in cavities.

How does a sealant help prevent decay?
A sealant is a plastic material that is usually applied to the chewing surfaces of the back teeth - premolars and molars. This plastic resin bonds into the depressions and grooves (pits and fissures) of the chewing surfaces of back teeth. The sealant acts as a barrier, protecting enamel from plaque and acids.

Thorough brushing and flossing help remove food particles and plaque from smooth surfaces of teeth. But toothbrush bristles cannot reach all the way into the depressions and grooves to extract food and plaque. Sealants protect these vulnerable areas by "sealing out" plaque and food.

Is sealant application a complicated procedure?
Sealants are easy for Dr. Pasut to apply, and it takes only a few minutes to seal each tooth. The teeth that will be sealed are cleaned. Then the chewing surfaces are roughened with an acid solution to help the sealant adhere to the tooth. The sealant is then 'painted' onto the tooth enamel, where it bonds directly to the tooth and hardens. Sometimes a special curing light is used to help the sealant harden.

As long as the sealant remains intact, the tooth surface will be protected from decay. Sealants hold up well under the force of normal chewing and usually last several years before a reapplication is needed. During your regular dental visits, your dentist will check the condition of the sealants and reapply them when necessary.

Sealants are just for kids, right?
The likelihood of developing pit and fissure decay begins early in life, so children and teenagers are obvious candidates. But adults can benefit from sealants as well.

Key ingredients in preventing tooth decay and maintaining a healthy mouth are twice-daily brushing with an ADA-accepted fluoride toothpaste; cleaning between the teeth daily with floss or interdental cleaners; eating a balanced diet and limiting snacks; and visiting your dentist regularly. Ask your dentist about whether sealants can put extra power behind your prevention program.

Fluoride
Children today are getting fewer cavities because of sealants; fluoridated water, fluoridated toothpaste, and regular check ups at their dentist. Back in 1900's, a dentist in Colorado noticed in his young patients staining on their teeth, and the lack of cavities. After some research, it was discovered that fluoride in the water was protecting teeth, but in excess causes stains called fluorosis. Fluorided water has been the biggest component in the fight against cavities, but water is not the only source of fluoride. Read on to discover where else you can get fluoride.

How does fluoride work?
Fluoride has specificity to mineralizing tissues like bone and developing teeth. When optimal fluoride is ingested, it is absorbed in the blood and deposited in bones or teeth. The kidney excretes the excess. Fluoride replaces the enamel hydroxyapatite with fluorapatite. The calcium remains in the enamel crystals, the incorporation of fluoride (F) causes the enamel to with stand breakdown by acids. These acids are created by the cavity causing bacteria, plaque.

The fluoride you ingest (at levels of 1.0-0.6ppm), is also incorporated in your saliva. This has 3 benefits:

  1. Has antibacterial properties at low pH, it interferes with the enzymes that break sugar into acids.
  2. The fluoride inhibits the breakdown of the calcium and phosphate on your enamel in areas of demineralization (beginning of a cavity).
  3. It enhances the remineralization of enamel by helping calcium and phosphate adhere to the enamel surface, and hardening the tooth.

What is the best way to get fluoride?
You can get fluoride in two ways: systemically (swallowed and then the body absorbs it into the system) and topically (applied to the surface of the tooth). We obtain fluoride systemically when the food or liquid containing fluoride is swallowed. The fluoride consumed is absorbed in the body by the teeth and bones. Topical fluoride application can be from: fluoride treatments at the dentist, toothpaste, fluoride rinses (i.e. ACTâ or Fluoriguardâ), or saliva. These various forms facilitate the absorption of fluoride directly into tooth enamel.

Systemic and topical fluoride can be used individually or in combination to help strengthen teeth against decay. One of the major components of a fluoride-diet is toothpaste. If used twice a day, it can provide 30-50% (depending on the amount of toothpaste used) of your total fluoride intake.

If you and your family have a healthy diet including fluoridated water and you are using toothpaste on a routine basis, then you should be receiving adequate amounts of fluoride in your diet. In order to make teeth strong from fluoride, it needs to be consumed in low concentrations at consistent times. Taking supplemental fluoride can be more harmful than beneficial, especially when your total fluoride intake from diet and toothpaste is not being accounted. By having an acceptable diet and daily brushing is far more beneficial than taking fluoride tablets or drops in bulk. Excess fluoride can cause something called fluorosis.