Sealing Molars

My mom had sealents put on mine and my brothers teeth when we were younger, no I am 28 and he is 26 and neither of us have ever had cavities. For that reason alone I recommend it.

I've been a dental hygienist for 13 years. You can only seal teeth that have no problems. They are to prevent problems. SEAL HER TEETH. The most common area for decay is on the occlusal surface which is the part of the tooth that will be protected by a sealant. As long as they are intact and properly placed, sealants are 100% effective against decay! They are a must in my opinion and the opinion of the many dentists I have worked for. There are no good reasons not to a sealable tooth (sealable = permanent molar with no signs of decay present). Sealant materials are safe. I have read many journal articles on this topic and they have been extensively researched, approved, and safely used for many years. For more information ask your dentist, he or she will have countless research articles to refer you to which are scientifically based and not done by anyone who has an agenda. My kids have sealants on their teeth and I think you'll be hard pressed to find dental professionals whose children don't have sealants (unless they were too slow and have fillings instead). Be sure to floss her teeth as well as brushing because sealants do not protect all teeth or in between the teeth.

My middle son went from not having any cavities and not looking like he would have a problem, to having a cavity so bad, you could see it with your eye! I was so glad we chose to seal the others, but wish I would have done it earlier. My oldest, ended up with cavities on all 4, as sealant wasn't an option for him earlier. I say do it, as it's much cheaper and way better for them than getting cavities filled!

I wish I had done it for me. I never had any tooth decay problems, but my husband did. They are contagious. I've had two dentists tell me that. It's a specific bacteria, and if it's never introduced into your mouth, you won't get cavities. If your sealed, you're protected either way. Anyway, because of this, we never share utensils, etc., with our kids, and as soon as they're old enough, we're getting them sealed.

are her grooves deep? or whatever they are called? I wish we had done sealants on mine when I was a kid. I brushed diligently but because of how deep my grooves were I had TONS of cavities. It could have been prevented with sealants. I'm not saying yes do it but explore the options maybe get a second opinion of another dentist and see if they would recommend the same procedure? Drilling out cavities and having them filled sucks and I had to have almost every molar done despite my good teeth hygiene. So that is my experience--

I have sealants and I have to say, I've never had a cavity. I have loved having them. I had braces for 4 years and it made brushing well much easier. I've also heard about the stuff they put in fillings and use for sealants. Unless you are willing to wait for cavities to happen which realistically is likely in her lifetime, I personally would do the sealants. I feel like in the long run they are better than fillings. My second son has had to have 4 molars filled due to not having insurance or being able to afford dental visits every 6 months and I feel bad that I wasn't able to help him prevent them. Now he'll have his whole life ahead of him to have those teeth go bad, need root canals, crowns, etc. when it all could have been prevented. Our dentist told us that his cavities did not come from not brushing well either. His dad has very bad teeth and our dentist believes it is hereditary.

I had a couple of my molars sealed when I was a kid and 26 years later they are cavity free. I am very prone to tooth decay and they are the only back teeth that haven't required a filling. I highly recommend getting it done and will have it put on my kids teeth.

I have sealants on my teeth-I'm 22 and haven't had a cavity yet. :) nor any side effects. I think that is worth the "exposure" so to speak. I'll do my sons teeth when its time for sure. hope that helps.

I've never heard about sealants containing harmful ingredients, but I'm also not one to be overly concerned about those things. Maybe that makes me a lax parent, but I was raised with all vaccines available and sealants on my teeth, no organic products, and I'm fine. Anyway, I would definitely get sealants on your daughter's teeth as it can save dental bills in the long run. I've had all my molars sealed and never had any problems. My older sister, who also has all her molars sealed, had a hole develop in a sealant and when she went to get it fixed was told that it would have been a cavity if she didn't have the sealants. Whether your family is prone to cavities or not, I think any type of prevention in addition to good dental hygiene is well worth it.

That is a new one to me. I just looked it up and the only thing I found was concern in Spain where they found some type of bisphenol A in very minimal amounts however not in the USA.
I had my daughters done, the Pediatrician said nothing about contents of what you seal the tooth with, they have come a long way with dental procedures that are much better then years past. My dentist is pretty thorough, even slowly getting the metal filling out of my mouth that are breaking down and old so I am not poisened with mercury....so I would say if you trust your dentist then it is probably a great way to keep her cavitiy free.

I've been doing some research on fillings and root canals and am regretting the root canals I had done a few years ago. I am planning on getting my last silver/mercury filling out with a dentist that really knows how to safely protect me from the toxins. So many dentists are pretty lax about it. http://www.hugginsappliedhealing.com/ is a website to check out. There is a blood test that is suppose to assess your body's immune response to various dental materials, so if you do need a filling or a crown, you can get something that is least reactive to your body. That makes sense to me.

There is lots of conflicting opinions on this topic, however I've learn with the other toxins in our environment (water, air, skin care, cleaning products and electropollution) the government and big agencies are not always looking out for our best interest (big $). I've compiled research, links and articles on the above subjects at livinghealthiernow.com, but I'm still in the process of deciding what is best for me with my teeth. Definitely dig deeply and go with your gut feeling. Please let me know what you found out on the sealants. I can't even remember what I did with my kids teeth.

Take care,
S.

My daughter had her molars sealed and she is now eighteen and has no cavities. Her teeth are beautiful. I can not recall my sons ever getting their teeth sealed and they have a few fillings.

The dentist we had when my kids were young put clear fillings in their molars. This was a safe thing for their health and it kept their molars from getting cavities as children. I think it was a good thing and I would recommend it.

Get the white fillings not the silver ones - not only are the slver ones really ugly, but they contain mercury, which we all know is a very toxic substance. The murcry will actually grind off bit by bit and enter your bloodstream and your brain. NOT what you want happening to your daughter!

I am impressed that your 6 year old already has her permanent molars. If she doesn't how can they tell? I am a huge fan of a 2nd opinion, but I am also a huge fan of preventing anything dental. I am a big baby when it comes to the dentist due to my childhood and would do anything to spare my children ANY type of dental work. We go every 6 months for cleanings, we have great dentist and are very diligent about brushing our teeth. I trust our dentist and if she told us to do sealants I would approach it as I did vaccines, lots of research.

My sisters & I can't remember having our molars sealed & who knows what caused it, but we've all got mouths full of silver (fillings). My 4 boys will all have their molars sealed (#2 just got all sealed)-I'd rather take my chances w/what's in the sealant than put them through the pain of dental procedures later. If I can prevent them the mouthful of fillings I have, I'm all for it! Plus, I can think of far better things to spend money on than fillings-sealants w/military insurance were about $20/head. So worth it!

Hi J.,
I've personally not heard of any negative side effects from having them sealed, and my children didn't have any problems, HOWEVER they also still got cavaties. So, it was a big ol' waste of money for us...