What Is the Difference between Dental Sealants & Dental Fillings?
If you have children at home, they may often complain about tooth pain and sleepless nights besides challenges when chewing or biting. The frequent complaints compel you to take your children to the pediatric dentist near you, seeking treatments for the kid’s teeth. You may not express surprise after the dentist examines your kid to report they need dental fillings. However, you undoubtedly will when the dentist inquires why your kids don’t have dental sealants on their teeth that would have prevented cavities from developing. You probably will return home with your kid with dental fillings in their tooth, wondering how dental sealants could have prevented the holes.
Tooth decay is common among children, frequently snacking sugary foods and beverages while neglecting proper dental hygiene. Cavities develop on children’s molars when they allow food particles and plaque to remain on them without cleaning their molars appropriately. When the bacteria in the plaque erodes the tooth enamel, they inevitably damage the tooth permanently and result in cavities. Dental sealants are an excellent preventive measure to seal tooth decay for an extended period ensuring children don’t develop cavities frequently.
Differences between Dental Sealants & Dental Fillings
Dental sealants are a thin and durable plastic coating painted over the surfaces of the molars to create a smoother surface by sealing the pits and grooves. Children with dental sealants are 43 percent less likely to develop cavities. The pediatric dentist Scarsdale, NY, recommends dental sealants to all children because this effective and painless treatment inhibits the bacteria in plaque from settling on the teeth and erodes tooth enamel. As a result, sealants function as a barrier against tooth decay and prevent cavities from developing on the teeth.
On the other hand, dental fillings are an essential remedy for permanently damaged teeth. Getting teeth with cavities filled as soon as they are detected helps prevent further damage, disallowing the mouth’s bacteria from penetrating further. Sealants and fillings both function similarly but from different directions. Sealants are needed to avoid cavities, while fillings help seal cavities already present on the teeth.
Which Treatment Should You Consider: Sealants or Fillings?
The remedy you consider for your children’s teeth will depend on whether you want them to have preventive measures or therapeutic treatments. You must prefer preventive measures instead of restorative therapies that cost higher in terms of time and money besides causing pain, lost school time, or even loss of teeth if cavities develop on them and are left untreated. Instead of enduring and letting your child survive the challenges, why not prefer a preventive measure that inhibits tooth decay from the very onset?
You must not fear the dental sealant treatment procedure because the therapy is entirely painless and merely requires about 30 minutes for the dentist to complete the application. Tooth sealants protect your child’s molars against 80 percent cavities for two years from the initial application, against 50 percent of holes for another four years and remain on your child’s molars for approximately nine years. However, the sealants are prone to chipping and require monitoring from the dentist during regular exams and cleanings.
When you take your child to get them dental sealants in Scarsdale, NY, the dentist examines their molars to determine whether they fit the treatment procedure. If your child qualifies for the sealant application, their molars are first cleaned and dried with absorbent material to remove all saliva present on the teeth. Next, the targeted molars receive an application of an etching solution left for approximately 15 seconds on the teeth before it is cleaned and dried in preparation for the dental sealants. Finally, the tooth sealant application over the molars and hardening with ultraviolet light completes the treatment to leave your child with a protective barrier over their teeth against cavities.
Getting dental sealants will not cost an arm and a leg as the prices are mere $ 30-$ 60 per tooth. Your costs are reduced further if you possess dental insurance. However, you save considerably by avoiding treatments for your child’s teeth by letting them have an additional protective barrier against tooth decay on their molars.
Getting dental sealants doesn’t mean children can continue neglecting oral hygiene or gorge on sugary and starchy foods. You must ensure they refrain from detrimental habits and maintain excellent dental hygiene even after getting dental sealants to protect against molars.
If you want your kids to benefit from this excellent preventive measure, take your kids to Smile Scarsdale Pediatric Dentistry & Family Orthodontics, where you can get them dental sealants and education on how to maintain their smile in optimal shape.