What Are Dental Sealants? How They Can Help Protect Your Child’s Teeth

Dental sealant treatments help in protecting your child’s teeth from cavities. While your child might lose their baby tooth, their adult tooth is permanent and cannot be replaced.

What Are Dental Sealants?

Dental sealants are a form of the protective barrier which is applied to your child’s teeth. It forms a barrier between the surface of your child’s teeth and food particles and bacteria. The dental sealant fills the small gaps and corners of your child’s teeth, preventing from food getting stuck there.

Food stuck between the teeth is a breeding ground for the bacteria present in the mouth and can lead to dental decay and cavities.

When Should My Child Get Dental Sealants?

Parents should ensure that their child gets a dental sealant treatment by the age of six. However, it can depend upon when your child’s adult teeth start sprouting. Your child becomes a candidate for a dental sealant treatment when their molars start erupting. Most children have their first molars show up by the age of six and the second molar shows up around the age of twelve.

The Efficacy of Dental Sealants

Dental sealant treatments are known to be highly effective and work by creating a barrier between your child’s teeth and food particles and bacteria present in the mouth. Most dental sealant treatments protect your child’s teeth from about 80 percent of the cavities in the first two years of the treatment and protect your child’s teeth from about 50 percent of the cavities in the first five years of the treatment.

Are There Any Risks?

Dental sealant treatments are absolutely safe and have no known side-effects on the patients. Some patients can experience some degree of sour or an unpleasant taste post their dental sealant treatment, which goes away within a couple of days. The only side effect dental sealant has is that your child experiences lower cavities and healthier teeth.

Dental sealant treatments are known to offer protection to your child’s dental and oral health. If you live near Markham, ON, contact 14th Avenue Dentistry to schedule a consultation appointment for you and your families dental care and oral health needs.