Why Are Dental Sealants Important For Kids?

Your kid develops their first molar at age 6 with deep grooves convenient for trapping food particles and plaque. Unfortunately, children love having sugary and starchy foods and find it challenging to remove food particles trapped in their molars, permitting mouth bacteria to enjoy themselves and eventually create cavities in children’s mouths.

You might hear from the pediatric dentist near you that brushing and flossing are the best methods to prevent cavities from developing in children’s mouths. However, if the dentist hasn’t recommended dental sealants for your child, you must inquire about them because they are the best to prevent cavities.

Do not be alarmed that getting dental sealants over your kid’s teeth will likely cost a fortune because it doesn’t. Getting dental sealants near you is affordable, costing merely $ 30-$ 60 per tooth in a painless and comfortable procedure. However, after getting dental sealants, your kid has a protective barrier on their molars that helps prevent mouth bacteria from penetrating the tooth. Dental sealants are an effective deterrent for bacteria and have remained safe and effective for over four decades.

What Are Dental Sealants?

Dental sealants thin coatings of durable plastic painted on children’s molars to create a smoother surface, making them easier to clean than molars with pits and fissures. Dental sealants protect against 80 percent of cavities for the initial two years after an application, and the protection remains ongoing against 50 percent of holes for another four years. The sealants stay on your kid’s molars for up to 9 years but require monitoring for chipping and cracking during dental appointments.

Forty-three percent of kid’s between six and 11 having dental sealants likely develop fewer cavities than children without dental sealants. Under the circumstances, wouldn’t you want your kid to have a protective barrier over their molars to prevent unnecessary complications?

What Happens When You Don’t Protect Children’s Molars?

Children from low-income households without dental sealants report lost school time because of tooth decay as it interferes with sleeping, eating, and other activities. If you decide not to protect your kid’s molars with dental sealants, you might spend more time at pediatric dentist’s offices with your kid complaining about tooth pain and getting treatments to fill cavities. In addition, the cost of getting dental fillings is much higher than the prices of dental sealants. Therefore we think you will not hesitate to protect your kid’s molars because it saves you time and money and protects your kid from unnecessary pain.

Where Can You Get Dental Sealants for Your Kid?

Placing dental sealants is technically sensitive and requires an experienced dentist for their application. If you take your kid to dental sealants in Houston, TX, you find a pediatric dentist with the experience to manage uncooperative kids efficiently and with patience.

Although the dental sealant procedure is comfortable and painless, it requires your kid to sit calmly in the dentist’s chair with their mouths open. Initially, the dentist cleans the targeted molar and dries it with absorbent material to ensure it is not contaminated with saliva during sealant application. After the initial cleaning, the dentist applies an etching solution over the molar to help the sealant adhere to the tooth.

After applying the etching solution, the molar is cleaned and dried with absorbent material. Finally, the dentist applies the dental sealant, a tooth-colored material that hardens quickly to complete the application procedure. The pediatric dentist hardens the sealant with ultraviolet light to give your kids a protective barrier over their teeth to prevent cavities.

Adults are also eligible for getting dental sealants if they do not have restorations on their teeth. Baby or primary teeth are sealed if the child is old enough to tolerate this comfortable procedure. However, baby teeth are sealed only if the child is susceptible to tooth decay.

What Happens After Getting Dental Sealants on Your Kid’s Molars?

Dental sealants do not permit children to continue enjoying themselves on sugary foods and beverages without paying proper attention to their dental hygiene. Parents are responsible for ensuring their child is limited from having harmful snacks or drinks and given healthier alternatives to protect their teeth. Besides daily brushing and flossing, children also require six monthly exams and cleanings for plaque removal and monitoring of the sealants to ensure they offer continued protection.

Urbach Pediatric Dentistry provides dental sealants for kids in Houston. After reading this article, if you are convinced about dental sealants, kindly take your kid to this practice today to get dental sealants in a painless and comfortable procedure.