Dental Sealants

OK well one of the programs I do for my employer is the dental van. I have run it for 5 years. In my experience sealents are to prevent cavities from starting. A dentist would not put a sealent on a tooth that is starting or has a cavitiy in it. They put them on baby teeth and on adult teeth. My daughter had them and so did I. We neevr had any problems with them. I would not worry too much. Hope this helps a bit.

I've had sealants. My two older boys had them as pre-teens. I've never heard about sealants cracking. I've known many who have had them and never heard of them cracking. Talk to your dentist, let him know your fears, and ask IF it were to happen why, how and when.

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets

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My daughter is going to have sealants put on her teeth. Her dentist said that once her 6 year molars came in then he would apply the sealants. He said that this would prevent cavities from forming. I have sealants on my teeth as well. I am 30 years old and have never had a cavity.

My son also had the sealants put on his baby teeth. A year later I was told he had four cavities. The sealants were applied incorrectly and left spaces for particles to get stuck. They then filled the cavities and reapplied the sealants. A month ago he went and they said one of the cavities cracked and needed to be replaced. Today he went to get the filling replaced and when the x-ray showed the start of an abcess and they ended up removing two baby teeth. I think we would have been better off with no sealants.

We never put sealants on the baby teeth, but we did on all the adult teeth. It helps to protect, and we never had problems with any of them cracking, although I have heard that they can. I don't think it happens all that often. But the baby teeth don't have to go for the marathon that adult teeth do -- so I wouldn't spring for the sealants unless your family has a history of bad enamel. OF the two kids that had dental insurance since about age 3, we have only had 1 cavity and it was a wee little thing in a baby tooth. The girls are now 13 and 15, and no other cavities. :-)

I think the flouride treatments and the regular cleanings work best at any age.

I had sealants put on my teeth, as did my older daughter - and no cavities for either of us - I strongly recommend them, but they were only placed on our adult teeth. Our pediatric dentist (who put mine on when I was younger and my daughters) will not apply them to baby teeth.

Hi K.! LOVE THEM!!! All three of my girls have had, and do have sealants! We go to Dentistry for Kids in Monroeville and have gone there since we moved to PA in 2000. The sealants have protected our girls teeth beautifully! They love to go and do go to the dentist every 6 months and their sealants are checked each time and replaced when nessassary. Not one of my girls has had a cavity since we started with Dentistry for Kids. I wish we would have had sealants when I was a kid!! Best wishes.

I got sealants when I was ten or eleven and they lasted well into adulthood. They really worked for me and just recently my dentist noticed them wearing away so she got rid of them. As long as the dentist keeps and eye on them I would think they would be fine. My sealants saved my teeth from cavities.

Hi K.,
I am a general dentist, so I can tell you the benefits and the downsides of sealants. They should be done on adult back teeth only (the molars and occasionally the premolars). Sealants are placed into the grooves of chewing surfaces of teeth in order to keep food/plaque from stickng to the grooves and feeding harmful bacteria which causes cavities. These are generally very beneficial, however, they can fall off or crack. The main reason for the sealant failure is that they have to be placed in a very dry environment, and you can imagine how hard it is to keep a 6 year old (or so) still and keep their mouth dry. If they fall off, they can easily be replaced. It is very very rare that cavities will form under cracked sealants. Your dentist will check you children's teeth every 6 months, he/she can detect cracked or lost sealants. The long and short of it, is that sealants are great, but the most important thing is good hygiene, cleannings and check ups and not too much sugar :)
Hope this helps,
Dr. I. Slipak

I had sealants put on my back teeth when I was 7 or 8 and have never had a problem with them. I am now 33 and just recently had a trip to the dentist and I still have some of the sealant on my back teeth. Just normal wear and tear, I was told that some people lose their sealants right away, it may take a few years to lose them or some may still have them for life. I would think that chewing hard candy or really hard food might help to chip the sealant away (I've always chewed hard candy, not much for savoring it). It may also depend on what kind of material was used for the sealant. I have never had any problems, I personally think it may have helped me from getting cavities. As long as you keep brushing like you're susposed to I don't think you should have too much trouble.
M. W.

only on the adult molars as they come out and yes suppose to be checked every 6 months. Sometimes they do crack but then they reseal them.

Of course some dentists think their cavities, and I quickly leave with my kids and don't go back.

I actually have sealants myself. I started getting them as a pre-teen or teenager, so they have all been on my adult teeth (not sure if they existed when I had my baby teeth!) I have even gotten one as an adult. I have had no problems with the sealants at all and (knock on wood) still have NO cavities, so they are doing their job. I think they are great and would highly recommend them.

i had them and never had any issues. sometimes they are done to prevent cavities from forming. i never heard of bad cavities forming underneath. talk to your furture dentist and do not listen to every thing you hear. bottom line is that if you take care of your teeth and do what you are supposed to do,you should not have too many problems.

I don't know about sealants today, but I want to share my story. I had them put on my teeth when I was growing up and I am SO grateful I did! To this day I still have never had a cavity and I am convinced the sealants helped with that. I hope this helps and good luck finding a new dentist.

K.,
Both of my kids have had sealants. Only on their adult molars as they have come in. My daughter had one come off and he did tell me that things like chewing ice can do that. Other than that we have not had any problem.
L. R

Hi K.-

I'm 26 years old and have had the same sealants on my teeth since I was probably about 8-10 years old. I have never had a problem with cavities on the teeth that have sealants. I definitely think it's worth it! The only thing I could ever think of that would cause them to "crack" would be age...I'm sure eventually mine may need to be replaced just due to the length of time I've had them.
Good luck!