Are you looking for a simple, effective way to prevent cavities in your child’s permanent teeth? Just ask Dr. Villasenor and the team at Rise and Shine Pediatric Dentistry about dental sealants for kids. They are a low-risk, high benefit treatment that we recommend for the deep grooves of permanent molars. They are often placed at a routine preventive visits.
Dental sealants for kids are a tooth-colored material that can be placed without numbing or buzzing, and are used to fill in the deepest portion of the grooves on the biting surfaces of molars. They are recommended by the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry for permanent molars and occasionally primary molars, if your child has exceptionally deep grooves in these teeth or a high risk for cavities. It’s important that teeth stay dry when sealants are placed, so Dr. Villasenor and her team have different options for devices and tools to ensure that this is the case.
As long as your child does not chew on ice cubes or hard candies such as lollipops often, sealants should last for several years. Sealants are thin and tooth colored, so your child would likely not notice if a piece chips away. Dental sealants are especially helpful for molars that have any developmental variation in enamel hardness; they may not bond as well to teeth with enamel differences so Dr. Villasenor will monitor this closely and touch up as needed at routine preventive visits. When sealants are placed, they are cured with a light- so your child is ready to eat and drink immediately after placement.
Give us a call at 303-758-0223 or request an appointment with Dr. Villasenor to see if your child might be a candidate for sealants!