Tooth decay is a problem that affects people of all ages, whether children or adults. It involves the structure, shape, and functionality of your natural tooth. Your teeth will decay when harmful bacteria attack them. When oral bacteria combine with leftover food and dirt in the mouth, they produce a dangerous and strong acid that corrodes the enamel. Although the enamel is very strong, continuous exposure to this acid causes it to wear out, resulting in cavities. This acid forms plaque on tooth surfaces, further weakening enamel. The buildup continues, weakening and damaging the enamel, causing it to wear down until your tooth loses its original structure and strength.

Fortunately, treatments are available for tooth decay, which include dental sealants. Although sealants are mainly recommended for children and teenagers, they can work for all people. Sealants create a barrier between your teeth and harmful bacteria to reduce their effect on your teeth. Understanding how sealants prevent decay aids informed decision-making. You should also discuss your suitability for sealants with your dentist.

A Brief Overview of How Dental Sealants Work

Dentists recommend good oral hygiene habits as the primary way to prevent tooth decay. This entails brushing twice daily and flossing every day. This habit removes stuck foods and dirt from your teeth, gums, tongue, and other areas of your mouth to discourage the growth of harmful cavity-causing bacteria. Visiting your dentist regularly for general checkups and examinations also helps diagnose and treat tooth decay at its early stages. This prevents tooth loss and other severe issues that result from untreated decay and cavities.

When practicing good oral hygiene, dentists recommend paying close attention to the difficult-to-clean areas. If neglected, these areas can become perfect growing grounds for harmful bacteria. You should also use a recommended toothbrush and toothpaste. A good toothbrush will keep your teeth clean, and a fluoride-based toothpaste will increase your teeth’s protection from decay.

Even with these recommendations, tooth decay cases are reported yearly to dentists nationwide. Dentists offer different solutions to prevent and treat tooth decay to save natural teeth and ensure their patients enjoy strong, healthy, and functional teeth throughout their lifetime. Dental sealants are one of the recommendations your dentist will make if you are at risk of cavities. Although it is not a treatment for an already-formed cavity, it is a protective measure that can save your teeth from decay.

Dental sealants are a transparent, thin coating that dentists apply to a tooth to protect it from cavity-causing agents. The coating forms a protective barrier on your tooth to protect the enamel from elements that could cause tooth decay, including acids from foods and harmful bacteria. The additional protection is needed for people more susceptible to tooth decay, including children and teenagers. These two groups are highly considered for dental sealants because of the kinds of foods they enjoy (mostly sugary and starchy foods) and their inability to pay more attention to detail when brushing and flossing their teeth.

Your dentist can apply sealants to all your teeth to increase their protection from tooth decay. However, some teeth, like molars, are more susceptible to decay than others because of their larger surface area and uneven surface, which makes it challenging to keep them clean. The chewing part of the molars has more crevices, which trap food. It is also a complex area to keep clean, making it a perfect ground for the growth of harmful bacteria. Dentists focus on these areas more when applying dental sealants to prevent cavities.

Additionally, children are the primary beneficiaries of dental sealants because they need more protection than adults. Adults can clean and floss their teeth better than children. Adults can also maintain oral hygiene visits and visit their dentists regularly for checkups and examinations. Since children are more prone to cavities than adults, they can benefit more from sealants. The additional layer on the enamel from sealants can keep their teeth safe from decay for years, lowering their risk of cavities in adulthood by a significant percentage.

If you have a developing cavity, your dentist can still recommend dental sealants to protect it from further damage and the rest of your teeth. However, they could treat the cavity before applying the dental sealant if it cannot be sealed. Treatment for a developing cavity can be effectively done using fluoride treatments or dental fillings. Once the tooth is restored, and the dentist is sure that the damage is discontinued, they can seal the tooth to prevent further attack by harmful bacteria.

Preventing Tooth Decay Using Dental Sealants

Dental sealants are one of the main preventive measures dentists employ to prevent tooth decay for the entire family. If your tooth is damaged and at risk of decay, the dentist can seal it to prevent further damage from harmful bacteria, which can cause an infection that could spread to the rest of your teeth and underlying structures. Here are some ways dental sealants protect you from tooth decay:

Sealants Form a Barrier of Protection Against Decay-Causing Elements

Your teeth serve incredible purposes in your life. In addition to biting and chewing, your teeth enhance your facial appearance and beautify your smile. However, you cannot enjoy these benefits if your teeth are less than perfect. Tooth decay is a significant issue because it damages your teeth's structure, beauty, and functionality. Preventing cavities should be your top priority in enjoying beautiful, strong, and functional teeth for a very long time.

Dentists apply dental sealants on your teeth, especially the ones at higher risk of decay, as a barrier of protection against cavity-causing elements. Tooth decay mainly occurs when you fail to keep your teeth clean. This can happen if some of the foods and drinks you consume remain in the mouth due to a failure to practice good oral hygiene. Some food particles can also remain stuck in difficult-to-clean areas. When you chew food, your molars retain some of the food. You need to carefully clean them to remove the foods that could potentially encourage the growth of harmful bacteria in your mouth.

Dentists apply a sealant on those teeth to prevent them from harboring harmful bacteria that could cause tooth decay. Then, you can keep all your teeth clean by brushing and flossing daily. The protective barrier discourages the growth of harmful bacteria that attack the enamel to cause decay and cavities.

Fortunately, sealants are accessible to many people because they are generally affordable. You can have everyone’s teeth in your family sealed to reduce your risk of cavities. The procedure involved is also minimally invasive, requiring no anesthesia.

Dental Sealants Reduce Extreme Grooves on Your Molars

Your molars, or chewing teeth, are the most at risk of tooth decay because of their deep grooves, which trap foods, creating a perfect breeding ground for dangerous bacteria. The grooves are usually some of the difficult-to-reach areas when brushing and flossing your teeth. When foods remain stuck in these grooves, they combine with oral bacteria to produce elements that weaken your enamel, causing tooth decay. You need to protect these areas using dental sealants to prevent the growth of bacteria in those areas.

Dentists apply sealants on the chewing parts of your teeth to reduce the grooves that trap food and cause the growth of harmful bacteria. With the sealant on, you need not worry as much about trapped food in grooves and crevices on and around your teeth. This makes it easy to keep your mouth clean and free from elements that cause tooth decay and cavities. You can chew comfortably with the sealants since they do not affect the functionality of your teeth. You can also brush and floss your teeth as usual, with minimal interference from the sealants.

Dental sealants make maintaining good oral hygiene easy. Since they cover the parts of a tooth with the most grooves, they reduce places at risk of plaque buildup. This leaves you with fewer areas to focus on when brushing and flossing your teeth. However, you should combine this treatment with good oral hygiene habits to enjoy adequate protection from tooth decay. You should also visit your dentist regularly for professional teeth cleaning to ensure that all areas of your teeth are clean. Professional cleaning also removes plaque buildup to discourage the continuous growth of cavity-causing bacteria.

They Make Brushing and Flossing Easy

How you floss and brush your teeth daily determines your risk of tooth decay. Dentists recommend using a good-quality, soft-bristled brush that can reach all your teeth and even the farthest parts of your mouth. Flossing should be done effectively, too, to remove all stuck food between your teeth. However, you may not clean your teeth effectively if numerous grooves, nooks, and crevices are difficult to penetrate with regular brushing and flossing. These areas are prone to cavities because of the dirt and food that remain uncleaned for days, weeks, or months.

Even with the best oral hygiene habits, your risk of tooth decay is high if these areas remain difficult to keep clean. These are some of the places that dentists target when applying dental sealants. Sealants cover the top part of the teeth, which has the most grooves that are difficult to reach with a regular brush or dental floss. Some of the foods you eat will likely remain stuck in these grooves. The buildup in these areas starts slowly and escalates so much that before you know it. It is possible to have tooth decay in these areas and not know about it until you get a large cavity.

Dental sealing reduces the areas you must worry about when brushing and flossing; you can clean on and around your sealed teeth well, ensuring that each tooth is clean and free from harmful bacteria daily. Sealing also prevents plaque from building up in areas that are difficult to see. Thus, you are less worried about cavities once your teeth are sealed.

However, you must be a suitable candidate for dental sealants. If you have a history of cavities, you need extra protection against their recurrence. You are also a suitable candidate if you have deep fissures and pits on your teeth.

Sealants Provide Lasting Protection from Tooth Decay

Tooth decay starts slowly and escalates quickly, affecting your tooth’s structure and spreading to the adjacent teeth. If it begins in a difficult-to-see area, many of your teeth can be affected before you realize it. You could lose more teeth if you do not seek treatment until much of your natural teeth are affected. Also, treating an escalated tooth decay can cost more money and take a lot of time. However, you can reduce the risk of tooth loss by having your teeth sealed and enjoying the protection for years.

Sealants often last several years, up to nine, with regular monitoring and maintenance. This is how long you stay less worried about your risk of tooth decay before having the treatment repeated. If the sealant is well done, it can remain effective for years. However, you must take good care of the sealed teeth to enjoy absolute protection from cavities. In addition to keeping your teeth clean, have a skilled dentist check them regularly. During regular checkups and examinations, your dentist will check the effectiveness of your sealants. If the dentist detects an issue with the sealants, they can repeat the treatment to keep your teeth properly sealed.

Note that a worn-out or damaged sealant does not offer adequate protection against cavity-causing bacteria. Your sealants can wear out or become damaged due to your eating or chewing habits, or your brushing techniques. If you apply more pressure than necessary on your sealed teeth, you could damage the seal, exposing your teeth to bacteria that cause tooth decay.

Remember that dental sealants only cover part of the areas prone to tooth decay. Other parts of your mouth remain exposed to harmful bacteria. You must maintain good oral hygiene habits to keep yourself safe from cavities. You must also replace the sealants after a few years to continue the protection.

Sealants are Suitable for All Ages

Remember that tooth decay is not unique to a particular age or group of people; it is an issue that affects all people, including children and adults. Some people are at a higher risk of cavities than others. The kinds of foods you eat and your oral hygiene habits also determine your risk of cavities. You should consider dental sealants as an easy, cost-effective, and highly effective way to reduce your risk of tooth decay.

Remember that dentists recommend dental sealants mainly for children and teenagers, since they are more prone to tooth decay than other age groups. Children have yet to master teeth-brushing and flossing techniques that effectively clean out trapped foods in the mouth. They also rely on adults to ensure they visit the dentist regularly, as required.

Adults, too, can benefit from the protection dental sealants offer, especially if your teeth have deeper or larger grooves and pits that trap foods and drinks. If you have had a cavity before, your risk of cavities is higher. Your dentist can recommend additional protection for your teeth to reduce that risk, which you can get from dental sealants.

Dental sealants are suitable for the entire family because they are easy to apply and maintain. After professionally cleaning your teeth to remove any buildup from your previous exposure to decay-causing elements, your dentist applies the sealant on the teeth that are likely to develop a cavity. The cleaning also removes any foods stuck between your teeth and the nooks, grooves, and crevices on and around your teeth. If these are left in the mouth, they can encourage the growth of dangerous bacteria even after treatment.

A dental sealant must be applied carefully to a dry tooth to ensure it dries completely. Then, it can remain intact for years. Since this is a painless procedure, you do not need anesthesia during treatment. The process also takes a few minutes to complete.

Find a Skilled General Dentist Near Me

Tooth decay is a severe issue affecting your teeth's health, strength, appearance, and functionality. It affects everyone, including children and adults. However, you can protect yourself from tooth decay by maintaining good oral hygiene habits and seeking preventive treatments like dental sealants. Although dentists recommend sealants mainly for children and teenagers, adults can also enjoy adequate protection from cavity-causing elements.

At South Coast Dentistry, our trained and experienced general dentists have all the information you need to learn about dental sealants, how they work, and their benefits and disadvantages. We can also discuss the treatment process to prepare you for what to expect if you choose to have it. Additionally, we will review your treatment history first and examine your teeth and gums to determine your suitability for sealants before treatment. Call us at 949-274-9086 if you or your loved one is interested in dental sealants in Aliso Viejo. Let us discuss your treatment needs and our services further.