Tooth Sealants
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Tooth Sealants
May 2009
I was wondering if any of you can give your two cents about
dental sealants.
Yesterday my 6yo went for a routine cleaning and check-up at her
dentist, a dentist we've been with since her first appointment,
and that I trust.
She has no decay, but they are recommening sealants for the back
teeth. Maybe I am jaded, but I can't help feeling that this is
an unnecessary procedure recommended in order to make a few
extra $$$.
Insurance covers 80%, but we would still have to pay about $90.
Is it worth it? Again, she still has most of her baby teeth, and
no decay to date. Plus, she brushes and flosses regularly
without a struggle.
Opiniones
Not trying to be cheap
Dentists recommend this routinely for children these days. For some, it is probably
unnecessary. But some kids will grow up like me. Although I have always brushed and
flossed (even as a child), I have fillings in the tops of every single one of my back
teeth. Most of them, I got as a teenager. I don't recall having trouble with my baby
teeth, but have always had trouble with my permanent teeth. Once when I was about
12 I had 9 fillings put in all at the same time.
My understanding now is that some tooth decay is based on lack of dental care (i.e.
brushing etc.), and some is proneness based on some sort of genetic factor (I don't
know if it's soft teeth, or mouth chemistry, or what).
I think they do sealants on all kids as a preventative, because they can't predict which
ones will be like me, and by the time the decay starts it's too late.
Karen
I am with you in the belief that it's an unnecessary
money maker for dentists. What really bothers me is that they seem to be ''pushing''
them these days and people aren't really researching what they're putting IN their
child(ren)'s mouths. When I asked my dentist about this, he took the ADA's stance,
that is that there isn't enough proof to make the claim as of yet. Well, there isn't
enough proof against it for me to buy in.
No sealants for us. Let's see what others say.
If they cover 80% the sealants should only be about $10-20, maybe
even less (I think my 80% insurance was $6 for sealants?).
W/ my 6-yr old, I did it once per year. She has great teeth,
doesn't eat many sweets, and we brush well. w/o those factors I'd
probably go ahead w/ the sealants on the back teeth. Having
brushed & brushed the back teeth w/o dislodging food, I'd say
it's worth it.
After reading all the negative info about tooth sealants already posted I figured I had
to chime in about my vote for them. My 3 kids (ages 13, 11, and 7), all of whom have
had their permanent molars sealed as they come in, are cavity free. I had loads of
cavities as a kid, in all my molars, despite brushing, (''genetic deep fissures''),
which
continue to plague me today as fillings fall out and teeth parts break off. I don't
know
if it's the flouride or the sealants they use today, but my kids' teeth are in much
better
shape than mine were at their age. I am so thankful that they have been spared the
torture I had to undergo in the dentist's chair getting my back teeth drilled, filled
and
crowned before I was a teen. Definitely worth the price in my opinion.
happy to pay the dentist for sealants
Nov 2002
Our dentist recommended that we have dental sealants put on our
children's teeth (ages 6 and 8). I have heard of sealants put on
permanent teeth, but never on baby teeth. Is this a common
practice? How do most parents handle this? Our insurance will
only pay for sealants on permanent teeth. And I'm not sure of
the safety of the substances used in sealants. Thank-you.
Anon
We have been considering the same issue. Our pediatric dentist
has pushed sealants somewhat aggressively. After speaking with
my regular dentist whom I trust and have had a very satisfactory
relationship for over 10 years, I decided that for my two sons
(7 & 10) we will not seal the deciduous teeth. It just doesn't
make sense unlee your child has some predisposition to cavities
(Some people do.).
The other consideration my dentist mentioned is that if the
sealant is not done extremely well, they can actually lead to
very serious cavities under the seal. These are bad because they
are much harder to detect. The dentist uses touch as much as
sight to detect the cavities. Our younger son has some
developmental problems and has to be monitored closely to ensure
that he adequately flosses and brushes. We may have his
permanent teath sealed because he is at such risk for cavities.
We are not going to do this for the 10 year old.
Anon
I don't know all the pros and cons, but I do know that my
stepdaughter had sealant applied to her teeth when she was ten,
I believe. It turned out that sealant had been applied to a
tooth where there was existing decay, and just as one of the
other posters suggested, having the decay ''sealed on'' caused a
big problem. She ended up having to have a root canal and crown
at this very young age. Having seen this, I would not do
sealants for my son.
Fran
Jan 1999
Can anyone give me some advice on the wisdom of getting sealants put on
an 8 year old's teeth? I understand that they protect the front of the
teeth only from cavities, and cavities can still develop on the sides.
Our dental plan covers 75% of the cost (my dentist is $168), until the
child is 9. After that it's not covered as preventive. We have an appt.
this Sat to have them done, and I wanted to get some ideas from other
parents.
Mari
Even though my dentist said it was rather unusual for adults to do so, I had
all of my "virgin" teeth sealed in the past few years and have felt very
glad about it. From what I could understand, it is just a matter of time
before the natural grooves in a tooth begin to harbor decay, no matter how
good your oral hygiene is: the bottom of the groove is just too skinny for a
tooth-brush bristle to fit in there. I couldn't tell you about potental
health problems from leaching chemicals--your post is the first I've heard
about that. So far, I'm fit as a fiddle. My dentist is big on replacing
amalgam fillings to get rid of the mercury (I've declined so far bacause of
what I've read about drilling out the amalgam actually exposing a person to
more mercury than leaving them intact), but mentioned no qualms about toxins
from the sealants. I've been looking forward to having my daughter's teeth
sealed once she's old enough to keep her mouth open long enough (she just
turned two). Each tooth takes about ten minutes to seal. I don't
understand putting sealant on a tooth that is already decayed, though, as
your post suggests--I would think that would just trap the decay under the
sealant, leading to further decay and potential nerve damage. I have a
couple of "white" I guess resin fillings, as well as a number of old amalgam
ones. Supposedly the white fillings don't last as long, but mine are
holding up very well--seven years and counting. I have a porcelain
semi-crown. It was quite a lot of hoopla getting it made and installed
(required an impression and sending it off to a lab and a couple of return
visits to get it fitted in there right, and then it didn't feel right for
another six months)--I don't picture that for a three-year-old, and I sure
can't imagine an insurance company paying for it--porcelean costs the same
as gold--about $1,000 per tooth (I don't picture spending that for a
deciduous tooth). Hope this helps.
I just wanted to mention a bad experience I had when I asked a dentist
to apply sealants to my teeth. The reason I wanted to get sealants
was so that my teeth wouldn't get any more spots where the enamel is
worn off (high risk for cavities) than they already had.
Unfortunately my dentist, without telling me what he was doing,
started drilling my teeth -- to make grooves in the enamel so that the
sealant would stick better to my teeth! New grooves in the teeth were
exactly what I wanted to prevent, and here he was creating them. I
didn't particularly care if the sealant would have fallen off sooner
than it would have without the grooves; I just wanted to delay the
onset of grooves in the first place. The thing is, sealant always
wears off after a few years anyway, maybe 5 years if they add the
grooves, maybe a year if they don't add them (I don't know the exact
figures). So now that I do have grooves in my teeth, I am stuck with
either replacing the sealants for the rest of my life, to protect
these drilled out grooves from turning into cavities when the sealant
wears off, or letting them be exposed and turning into cavities.
So I guess the moral is: If you get sealants, make sure you find out
from your dentist, beforehand, what their policy is on drilling new
grooves into your teeth.
To the person who wanted advice on Tooth Sealants...
I had tooth sealants put in well over 20 years ago
(I'm 31 now) on my back teeth, the biting surface. I don't recall
the process or the type of sealant used back then, and don't know the
dangers, but you might like to know I only have one cavity (which
on the biting surface, so it wasn't covered by the sealant anyway.)
Whenever I go to my dentist every six months, he tells me the sealants
are still doing fine, after 20 years. Again, I'm not sure if my
"Tooth Sealants" from 20 years ago are the same as today's, but mine
are holding up fine.
My dentist in Canada swore by them, and applied them to my teeth after I
developed my first cavity at age 28, to protect the rest of my teeth.
Several years later, I haven't developed any other cavities. However, that
may be due more to good luck than the sealants (I take good but not great
care of my teeth, so it probably is genetic!).
Barbara
Just to let folks know, the plastic used in tooth sealants MAY be an
endocrine disruptor--the kind of thing that's leading to weird crocodiles
and decreased sperm counts. Pregnant women should probably not have their
teeth sealed, since in utero exposure appears to be the problem.
We're trying to decide whether to have it done for our son, weighing the
possible risks of the sealants against the risk of cavities...
Deborah
A few days ago, someone posted some information about the effects of
tooth sealants on teh endocrine system (abnormalities in alligators and
low sperm count). Unfortunately, I deleted the bulletin in was listed
in so I don't have the name of the person who posted it. I'd like to
know the source of this information. I've searched the internet and
have been unsuccessful. I would appreciate it if the person who posted
the message could let me know!
Bonnie
I'm the person who posted the message about tooth sealants, and I have some
more information.
Bisphenol A is the endocrine disruptor in tooth sealants, but I think there
may be some sealants w/o it (trying to find out).
Two useful websites:
www.wwfcanada.org/reducerisk World Wildlife Fund Canada's how to
reduce your risk from endocrine disruptors
www.tmc.tulane.edu/ecme/eehome General info on environmental estrogens, but
I didn't see anything there about tooth sealants
Deborah
I recently read an article about tooth sealants on Mothers and Others web
page. If anyone is interested in reading it here is the link:
http://www.mothers.org/mothers/greenguide/features.html
My oldest daughter does have tooth sealants and I do personally regret it. I
had no knowledge of any reasons not to do it and went with the dentists
recommendations without doing any research. My daughter is one of those
children who started puberty premutarely (at 8 years old!) and it is and has
been very difficult for her, since she really is still a child. We have made
an effort to limit her exposure to hormones and hormone like chemicals since
then but unfortunately we can't undo the changes her body has already gone
through and while I am sure there were numerous other exposures besides the
sealants I feel badly about my decision to add on one more.
Carolyn
I'm concerned that I may have made people overly worried about tooth
sealants, for example the mom who was worried that her daughter's
tooth sealants might have contributed to early puberty. So I checked
with my mom, Shanna Swan, an epidemiologist who does research on
endocrine disruptors (though not tooth sealants in particular). And
she had this to say.
The evidence we have indicates that endocrine disruption occurs primarily in
utero. For example, studies that looked at the effect of PCB exposure
(primarily from fish in the Great Lakes) find extent of developmental delay
correlated with levels of PCBs in the mother's blood when she is pregnant
but not in her breast milk.(and quite a few studies have looked at these two
routes of exposure). On the other hand, no one has studied tooth sealants
and premature puberty, so of course we can't rule it out. Let's say I would
consider it very unlikely.
Also, the exposure to the bad chemicals in the sealants is highest at
the time they're applied and presumably also if they were to be
removed). Once they're in there, very low levels would "leak" into the
body. Based on the limited reading I've done, I think people who have
them should not have them removed, pregnant women should definitely
not have them applied or removed, and I'm still not sure about having
my son get them. Probably he's getting lots more exposure from other
sources!
Hope this clarifies.
Deborah
June 1998
Our dentist (whom I'm not thrilled with) has suggested after the last
cleaning of my 4 year old son's teeth, that they should put on sealants to
prevent cavities. Is there any collective experience on this? How necessary
is it? Maybe it is commonplace, but I just don't know.
Martha
Regarding sealants for 4 year olds, we were advised by our dentist to have
them put on my son's molars at about 5-6 years of age because he has very
deep recesses in his molars. We did, and he has only had one cavity (he's
9 now). The same dentist has not recommended them for my daughter, who is
now six, because her molars aren't as deep and cavity prone. We like and
trust our dentist, and think that the sealants help. It does require the
child to sit still for some amount of time, and it wasn't easy for my son,
but he got through it and it doesn't hurt. And its much better than
filling a cavity!
Helen
re: sealents on teeth...My kids who are now in their 20's had sealents.
Later we learned that some people worry that the plastic used off-gasses
things that are bad. I can't remember details at my advanced age but urge
any parents who are considering this to find out.
Margy
My understanding of sealants on teeth is it means virtually no cavities for
the child. I've had two children go through the sealant process and, while
not 100% effective (it can and does wear off and needs to be re-applied
periodically), it certainly seems to have helped.
Becky
I asked my father, a general dentist for 40+ years, about the use of
sealants in a 4 year old. He said that sealants are very effective
but should not be put in until the child's 6 year molars come in.
Prior to that, tooth decay can be combatted with diligent dental
hygiene. This is more than just handing your child a toothbrush and
letting them brush their own teeth. He recommends that the parent
brush and floss the child's teeth because children at that age do not
yet have the dexterity to properly brush their back molars. As
children, my siblings and I had our teeth brushed every night by one
of my parents until we reached the age of 10. The result has been that
none of us has had a single cavity, and we are all over 30.
Sharon
Our dentist put sealant plastic on our kids permanent molars. The biting surface
is all that gets covered. The idea is to fill in the crevaces where no toothbrush
is sharp enough to reach. This is extremely effective at preventing cavities in
these locations.
Our dentist sees no reason to do this for baby teeth,( perhaps because getting
a cavity drilled is such a strong lesson in the need for good oral hygene.)
Roger
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