A sealant is a painless procedure in which we place a layer of composite-like filling material over deep groves in newly erupted molar teeth. While sealants can be done at any age, the most common use of sealants is for young children who are first getting their adult molars (at around the age of 6).
Sealants are mostly used for molar teeth because molar teeth are the teeth that have the deepest grooves. All teeth have grooves – and these groove can be areas where food particles and bacteria collect, and lead to tooth decay. The idea behind the use of sealants is that because molars have the deepest grooves, we seal off the groves in order to prevent debris building up.
While many molar teeth do need sealants, some do not. When deciding whether or not to place sealants, we factor in whether or not a child has a history of decay, and how long the teeth have been in the mouth and decay-free.
