Sealants are a fantastic tool to protect children’s teeth from cavities! For comparison, your Grandmother protects her flower-fabric couch with plastic covers to prevent damage. Sealants are quite similar – they guard teeth from cavity-causing substances and form a protective layer.

The plastic coating fills in and protects the hard places bacteria love to hide, reducing the chances of needing a filling.

Dental Sealants do many things for our teeth

And, sealants do more than protect from bacteria; the plastic resin in sealants also guards tooth enamel from acids.

Proper brushing and flossing help get rid of food particles and plaque on the smooth surfaces of teeth. But toothbrush bristles can’t reach all the way into the grooves of some teeth, making it difficult to dislodge food and bacteria.

Sealants are usually used just on permanent teeth and take a few minutes to apply. Here’s how to process goes:

• The tooth is thoroughly cleaned.
• Then, the chewing surface will be roughened so the sealant will stick.
• Sealant is painted on the roughened surface.
• Finally, a curing light will be held over the sealant until it has hardened.

And, poof! Just like that, bacteria and acid are sealed away from the tooth, preventing any further damage from occurring.

So, next time your dentist asks about applying sealant, make sure you say, “yes!”. Save time and money while preventing future cavities with easy and effective sealants.