Today, one of the most common dental diseases diagnosed in adults and children is caries. Not everyone is fond of visiting a dental office, so the desire of most patients is to carry out such a procedure that would permanently eliminate the development of caries. Today, it has already been possible to develop a prophylactic against caries, which is called sealing teeth or sealing fissures.
Features of the procedure
Surely every adult has encountered such a pathology as caries. This disease is too insidious and requires mandatory treatment. In the event that caries in the oral cavity is not eliminated, the development of such complex dental diseases as pulpitis and periodontitis may result.
Fissure sealing is a process of coating the surface of the teeth with a special composition, due to which the surface becomes smooth and easy to clean. In addition, there is a blocking of the tissues of the tooth from the penetration of pathogens into them. Carrying out such a procedure allows you to protect your teeth from the development of caries for many years.
A feature of fissures is the presence of thinner enamel on them, the maturation process of which is much slower. Fissures are considered the most inaccessible places for cleaning, so removing accumulations of pathogenic bacteria from them is not an easy task. It is for this reason that primary caries is diagnosed, and this is especially often observed in childhood.
Many parents are concerned about the question of whether such a procedure can be performed in childhood, and whether it is harmful to the child. In fact, the constituent substances of the sealant used during the procedure are fluorine and calcium. These substances have an anti-carious effect on tooth enamel, improve their nutrition and reduce the likelihood of an inflammatory process. It is for this reason that parents should not worry that fissure sealing will negatively affect the child's condition and, on the contrary, this is a very useful and necessary procedure.
Types of procedure and their implementation
In modern dentistry, two methods of fissure sealing are used, each of which differs in the features of its implementation.
Non-invasive (simple) sealing of teeth requires the following manipulations:
- It is necessary to thoroughly clean the teeth from accumulated plaque and pathogens, since the effectiveness of the procedure subsequently depends on this.
- The procedure begins with the application of a special acid to the teeth, which is washed off after a certain period of time. This need is due to the fact that under the influence of acid, organic substances are removed from the surface of the tooth. In addition, a special acid helps to prepare the surface of the teeth for good adhesion to the adhesive system and composite.
- The next step is to cover the surface of the teeth with a special composition;
- Finally, after the surface has dried, a special sealing material is applied to the teeth, which is dried using a special lamp.
Invasive fissure sealing is used when there is initial caries on the chewing surface of the teeth in the patient's oral cavity. The main difference between this procedure and non-invasive is the use of a drill to remove damaged tissue and smooth the chewing surface. After that, the manipulations carried out are no different from those used for non-invasive sealing.
Fissure sealing is similar in nature to applying nail polish, and the duration of the procedure ranges from 10 to 45 minutes on average. To achieve a positive effect, it is important to seal the teeth in accordance with all the rules, which will avoid caries for a long time.
In childhood, it is recommended to carry out the sealing procedure already when the child's chewing tooth is completely erupted. Most often this happens at the age of 6-7 years, and it is from this age that preventive examinations can be carried out in order to timely detect caries.
In adults, the sealing procedure can only be performed on healthy teeth, and it is rather problematic to detect caries in a deep and closed fissure. It is for this reason that invasive sealing is used in adults, which involves the preliminary grinding of fissures in order to make sure that there is no caries.
Studies conducted in the field of dentistry have shown that sealing fissures can prevent the development of caries for up to 2-5 years. In addition, in the future, teeth that have undergone a sealing procedure are less susceptible to the development of a carious process. Fissure sealing is considered one of the most effective procedures that allows you to forget about visiting the dentist's office for a long time due to caries.
