Children are natural food-lovers. They especially love to eat sweet food. However, sugar from these kinds of food cause tooth decay. Fortunately, there’s a way to save your child’s primary teeth with dental sealants. This plastic coating material that’s painted on teeth resists harmful cavities.
Furthermore, proper dental care for children should start when they’re as young as one year old. Consider this stage as vital since his first baby teeth are starting to erupt and are slowly getting vulnerable to bacteria. Ensure his oral health by keeping a regular visit with his pediatric dentist.
Is the application of dental sealants painful?
The dental sealants procedure is painless and doesn’t take a long time to complete. In fact, it only takes about six minutes to apply sealant to each tooth. Having said this, your kids won’t feel anxious at all with this procedure. Here’s the step-by-step process of applying tooth sealants:
- Cleaning of the tooth.
Your dentist in Mississauga, Ontario will clean the tooth surface to remove hardened plaque and allow the sealant to bond well. He will also brush the surface to clean the grooves and perform air abrasion to remove all other debris or food particles. - Conditioning of the surface of the tooth.
Next, the dentist will put etching gel to the tooth to prepare it for the following step. After a minute, he washes the primer away and dries it off. - Evaluation of the etching phase.
The dentist will then check if the tooth has a dull and frosty white appearance. This means the tooth is already dry and rough enough for the dental sealants to bond into it. - Application of the dental sealant.
He will now put the sealant on the tooth’s grooves with the use of a brush or syringe after conditioning. He will make sure that it fills the pits and fissures of each tooth. - Curing the sealant with a laser light.
When the application is done, it’s time to harden the sealant by directing a blue light over the tooth. - Final evaluation of sealed tooth.
The final phase of the dental sealants procedure is to evaluate the sealed tooth. This is to ensure that the coating isn’t bulgy so the dentist will check the patient’s bite. If the patient complains that it’s hard to gnaw, he may polish the sealant to thin it out.
Benefits of dental sealants
The treatment has multiple advantages especially for children. Aside from the fact that the sealant application is totally painless, here are its other benefits:
- Practically safe.
Dental sealants contain low levels of BPA or Bisphenol A, a chemical common in plastic products. Dentists attest that this is safe for children. If you’re wary of dental sealants side effects, you may opt for BPA-free sealants. - Perfect to use between 5 – 14 years of age.
The permanent teeth erupt at around 5 years old, and your children will need teeth sealants to shield their teeth. Furthermore, the other set of molars come out in their teenage years, so it’s best to protect their permanent teeth. - Budget-friendly.
Dental sealants cost range from $30 CAD to $60 CAD per tooth depending on your location. Considering this, it’s one of the most affordable way to prevent oral diseases. Moreso, most insurance companies offer coverage for this dental procedure. - Lasts for a long time.
With proper care and regular dental checkups, sealants will last until 10 years before your kids will need them again. Encourage your kids to care for their teeth daily so they develop good oral habits early on. This will give you an assurance that they will grow to have optimal dental health.
Suffice to say, dental sealants procedure does protect your child’s teeth from cavities and decay. It keeps their molars intact and allows them to enjoy the food they like. However, it will only last if it’s coupled with regular dental visits. Talk to your dentist on how to enlighten your child to practice a healthy oral regimen.