As a concerned parent, maintaining your child's oral health and general wellbeing is always the main objective of everything you do. That's why we take it upon ourselves to teach children how to brush their teeth and floss, prevent cavities, and a range of other dental issues that deteriorate their oral health. Instilling healthy oral hygiene habits during their early stages of life is an excellent solution to ensuring your children maintain a bright, healthy smile.
However, we cannot be there to ensure that children have brushed or flossed thoroughly; there's another method used to protect children from tooth decay and cavities: dental sealants. Dental sealants are plastic coatings painted on the chewing surface, which prevent the formation of cavities due to the thin protective layer they provide.
How Do Sealants Work?
Just as the name suggests, dental sealants help protect the teeth by creating a protective seal over the patient's teeth. Dentists usually place sealants over the pitted and grooved areas that are found in molars and premolars.
Although the grooves are sometimes narrower than a single bristle of a toothbrush, it can be difficult for children to clean their teeth efficiently. If these grooves are ignored, they allow plaque to build up and eventually form small holes on the surface of the teeth. Once applied, sealants add an extra layer that protects these inaccessible parts of the teeth, keeping your child's teeth free from food residue and cavity-free.
What Age Should Children Have Sealants?
According to most dental experts and the American Dental Association, sealants are recommended for children between 6-14 years. This is because a child's molars break when they are six years old, and the second set of molars appears around twelve years. It is vital to consult an expert as early as these teeth come through to protect them from tooth decay.
Dentist DC • Neil Starr, DDS, PC • Dental Blog Dr. Starr is offering this educational blog as a resource to our patients. Our hope is hope that our blog will cover subjects that you may be interested in. Neil L. Starr, DDS, PC, 1234 19th St NW #306, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 293-7177, starrteeth.com, 12/5/2023, Key Phrases: dental implants DC,
As a concerned parent, maintaining your child's oral health and general wellbeing is always the main objective of everything you do. That's why we take it upon ourselves to teach children how to brush their teeth and floss, prevent cavities, and a range of other dental issues that deteriorate their oral health. Instilling healthy oral hygiene habits during their early stages of life is an excellent solution to ensuring your children maintain a bright, healthy smile.
