The Importance of Dental Sealants for Children's Teeth
As a parent, one of your responsibilities is to make sure that your child grows up healthy and strong. This includes their dental health. Regular dentist's visits to the pediatric dental office in Apopka, FL will help, but do you get protective sealants for your child's teeth while you're there?
Even if your child still only has their baby teeth, you need to make sure that they stay protected. Dental sealants help.
But what are dental sealants? What are the benefits of sealants when it comes to pediatric dentistry?
Keep reading to learn more.
What Are Dental Sealants?
When you run your finger or tongue over the tops and bottoms of your teeth, what do you feel? The area is textured, right?
The grooves on the surfaces of your teeth are helpful when it comes to ripping apart and grinding down food, but they're also adept at gathering and storing bacteria, which will in time cause cavities.
Dental sealants are a solution to this problem. The sealant is a thin coating that the dentist will place over the surface of your child's molars to cover those grooves and protect the teeth.
Sealants are non-invasive and non-painful for the child.
Why Do Dental Sealants Help?
So what are the benefits of dental sealants?
Sealants protect the teeth from food, germs, and plaque. Bacteria may gather on the sealant itself, but it won't be able to permeate the barrier to cause cavities.
Sealants prevent tooth decay and reduce the overall number and severity of cavities. Cavities are harmful to your child's dental health, but they're also harmful to your child's overall physical health.
Cavities, even during childhood, can lead to gum disease in the future. Gum disease is irreversible.
Tooth decay can also lead to a child having trouble eating or speaking. It can impact a child's school performance. Many parents think that, as long as their child doesn't yet have adult teeth, they don't need to worry about cavities.
Poor oral hygiene, however, can impact a child for a lifetime.
How Long Do Sealants Last?
Some parents equate dental sealants to the fluoride paste that children get after a routine cleaning session. Flouride paste wears off throughout the day (even if it continues working in the future). Dental sealants can last for years while still offering adequate protection for your child.
Your pediatric dentist will check on the sealant during every office visit, but it isn't uncommon for dental sealants to last for up to a decade.
The exception to this is if the dentist applied the sealant when the child's teeth weren't dry or well-prepared. In this case, simply see the dentist again if the sealant falls off.
Visit Your Pediatric Dental Office in Apopka, FL for Dental Sealants
If you want to keep your child's teeth healthy and clean, dental sealants will make a huge difference. While you still need to make sure that your child is using good oral hygiene practices, adding protective sealants will provide extra protection against tooth decay.
If you're ready to get dental sealants for your child, our team at Baptiste Dentistry for Kids wants to help! Contact our pediatric dental office in Apopka, FL to set up an appointment today.
