Sealants for kids?

[MountainMama]

My son (age 10) has his first cavity. It is in a 6 year molar. He is getting it filled next month, and the dentist recommended sealants on all his molars, as he has deep grooves. I did a little research into sealants and it seems that they sometimes fail and bacteria can get trapped under them, causing tooth decay that isn’t seen. I also read multiple articles claiming they have a high failure rate. I don’t trust google to be completely truthful, of course, so wondering if the dentists could tell me what they have seen, or people who have had them placed on either their kids or themselves could tell their experience.
I don’t want him to get them if they could potentially cause more problems.

 

[TKB1974]

Both of my kids have had sealants in molars with “deep pits.” My kids are now 16 & 18 and neither has ever had a cavity. So, I guess you could say they’ve worked wonderfully for us. ?

 

[Gordon]

Get them done. My kids had sealants everywhere as a matter of course and they're as low decay risk as you can get

I've read stories about "sealants failing" etc but I think they're mostly BS. If they fail they fall off completely but they are so simple to do that this should be no issue. I've NEVER seen it.

Just to emphasise how easy they are to do... I got bored one morning and had my dental assistant do a sealant on one of my upper premolars, just for a laugh. She had no previous experience of doing them (apart from watching me for years) and obviously didn't have an assistant

It's been there for 30 years now...

 

[MountainMama]

Thank you, Gordon! I will definitely have him get them, then.

 

[MountainMama]

@Gordon One more quick question…will they put the sealant over the existing cavity once it is filled?

 

[Gordon]

Maybe, depends on how much of the surface is involved in the cavity.
There's a thing called a PRR (preventive resin restoration), basically you remove the decay, fill the cavity with some composite or glass ionomer and then seal over the rest of the surface of the tooth. Works very nicely.

 

[MountainMama]

Good to know. I will ask about that at his appointment. It isn’t a huge cavity, but large enough for him to need numbing. It is just in the groove of one molar. He had nothing showing up at his last cleaning six months ago.

 

[Gordon]

The problem is that fluoride mainly protects the smooth surfaces of the teeth, it doesn't do a great deal for the crinkly bits on top of molars and premolars.

 

[MountainMama]

That makes sense. Hopefully this will do the trick and he won’t get more. I will have to ask about them for my daughter as well. Although, can they do them if the child has braces?

 

[Gordon]

Yes they can do them easily.