With the increased education on pediatric dental care, most of the parents are doing their best to ensure that their children maintain perfect oral health by brushing their teeth more effectively at least twice a day. Nowadays, children are even learning to floss their teeth at a tender age.
However, some children are still lagging behind in their dental hygiene. Some parents do not take enough time to educate their children about the importance of good oral hygiene. Thus, they fail to realize how important it is to maintain perfect oral health until they start having issues with their teeth.
The most unfortunate thing is that dental problems that manifest at an early age may affect these children even in their adulthood. Fortunately, most of the kids’ dental issues can be mitigated before they get out of hand. One easy way of preventing dental issues, especially the dental cavities in children is by use of dental sealants.
Understanding Dental Sealants
If you own a beautiful piece of furniture or a classic car, you may want to clear coat to protect it from permanent damage. The same way you can preserve the integrity of your valuable items by coating them, a dentist can also preserve the integrity of your kid’s teeth by covering them a dental sealant, thus protecting them against bacterial decay.
Dental sealant refers to a thin coating that is painted on the chewing surface of the teeth. The sealant used by dentists assumes the shape of the depressions and grooves of the teeth, thus becoming part of the teeth surface. Dental sealant protects the enamel of each tooth against the action of acid and plaque.
Dental sealants mostly cover the premolars and the molars since they are at a higher risk of damage by acid and plaque. These set of teeth are usually hidden in the back, and they can be hard to see and clean. Most likely, there will be plaque buildup in the teeth thus resulting to teeth cavities.
Therefore, when a dental sealant is applied to the surface of these teeth, the risk of corrosion is reduced by up to 80 percent. However, dental sealants do not eliminate the risk of developing cavities in children entirely. But it has been noted that children with dental sealants develop cavities at a third the rate of those without sealants.
When to Get Can a Child Get Dental Sealant?
The first set of molars appear at the age of six in most children. The second set of molars appear later between the age of 12 to 14 years. Since the procedure is relatively inexpensive and effective compared to treating teeth cavities, experts recommend that a child should get dental sealant as soon as the molars start popping up. You can visit a kids dentistry Middletown KY office to get quality pediatric dental services.
The Procedure for Getting Dental Sealant
Unlike filling dental cavities which can be uncomfortable, getting dental sealants is a breeze for most of the children. The dentist will begin by cleaning your teeth thoroughly and then drying them. He will then apply a primer to the teeth being treated, which helps the sealant to bond with the surface of the teeth.
