We’ve published a new article entitled, “What You Should Know About Dental Sealants.” With this article, we at Inner Banks Dental want to highlight the benefits of dental sealants for your children and teens.
If you have a child or teenager, chances are good that you have or will be offered dental sealants for their teeth. Sealants protect the biting surfaces of the premolars and molars from dental decay. Here is the information about them that you need to know so you can make the right decision for your children.
For more information on dental sealants and Inner Banks Dental, visit us at: https://innerbanksdental.com/what-you-should-know-about-dental-sealants
Dental sealants are a plastic-resin coating that is applied to the grooves of the biting surfaces of the back teeth. The material is liquid, and it’s cured with an ultraviolet light, so it is a quick, easy and painless application process. Because the grooves are filled, bacteria and decay are much less likely to reside in these dark, tight, hard-to-clean areas, which means that your child will have a reduced risk of developing cavities.
Sealants are most common in children and teenagers, but if you are an adult who has not had decay or a filling on one or more of your molars, you can have them placed, too. They are particularly useful for people with deep grooves and pits on the teeth.
It takes only a few minutes to place dental sealants. Your hygienist might work alone, or she might ask a dental assistant to help, particularly if your child is having trouble staying still in the chair. First, the teeth are cleaned to remove any plaque or bacteria that might be hanging around in the tooth grooves. The teeth being treated are then isolated with cotton rolls to keep saliva out of the grooves.
Next, an etching solution is placed on the teeth, then rinsed off. This “roughs up” the biting surfaces just enough for the sealant material to adhere easily. The resin material is brushed on the air-dried surfaces, then light-cured for 15 to 30 seconds. Usually, one quadrant of the mouth is done at a time, so the process will be repeated three more times.
For more information on dental sealants, call us at 252-946-2131 or visit the link above.
