Dental Sealants
In Richmond, TX
Protect Your Smile With Sealants
How Fluoride and Sealants Can Protect Your Teeth
Fluoride toothpaste brushing and flossing are essential dental hygiene routines that can help prevent cavities. Nevertheless, it can be challenging to adequately clean every nook and corner of your mouth. The bristles on a toothbrush sometimes can't go all the way into the gaps of your teeth, especially those molars that help you chew food when you eat. In the microscopic crevices of your teeth, residual food particles and bacteria that cause cavities remain, creating the ideal environment for tooth decay.
A mineral called fluoride can strengthen enamel and stop tooth decay in its tracks. On your teeth's deep cracks and gaping holes, fluoride is less protective. Thankfully, dental sealants are a fantastic fix for this issue.
What Are Dental Sealants?
Who is Eligible for Dental Sealants?
Cavities can be prevented from the beginning when teeth are sealed as soon as they erupt into the mouth, which will ultimately save time, pain, and money. Sealants are generally given to children and teenagers because tooth decay can start as soon as teeth erupt and because most decay in youngsters affects the chewing surfaces of molars.
Sealants can also help people who have a greater risk of developing cavities because cavities can happen at any age (such as those who have dry mouth, a poor diet, a history of tooth decay, or other conditions). Even though sealants can be helpful for both adults and children, it is best to get them when a child is still a small child. Sealants can be put on baby and adult molars. Yet, when applied to permanent teeth, they are most affordable.
How Do Sealants Function?
- The teeth that will be sealed are carefully cleaned by your dentist.
Each tooth will be dried and placed in an absorbing material such as cotton. - The application of a mild etching solution will result in the teeth's chewing surfaces being rougher. Because of the rough surfaces, the sealant will stick to the teeth more effectively.
- The solution is removed after a brief period, and the tooth is then dried once again. The tooth's surface pits and cracks are then coated with sealant.
- Certain sealants self-harden in about a minute. When the dentist uses the curing light to apply the sealant, some are "light-cured" and harden more quickly.
