4 Oral Health Benefits of Getting Dental Sealants 

Good oral hygiene and habits like brushing and flossing will keep your mouth healthy and help you maintain a beautiful smile. Regular dental assessments and cleanings also facilitate early detection and treatment of potential oral issues like cavities and gum disease. But it doesn’t end there.

If you or your family are at a higher risk of developing cavities, your dentist can recommend further preventive measures like fluoride treatments and dental sealants. Please keep reading to learn more about dental sealants and how they are beneficial to your oral health.

What are Dental Sealants?

A sealant is a thin, white, or clear coating placed on the chewing surfaces of the molars and premolars. Your back teeth contain tiny grooves and pits that aid in chewing and grinding food. Unfortunately, food particles and other debris can get trapped in those areas, leading to plaque and tartar build-up in the mouth.

If not eliminated on time, these deposits attack your teeth and gums, leading to cavities and gum disease. Similarly, your back teeth are hard to clean thoroughly, increasing cavities and gum disease risk.

Applying sealants on these teeth smoothens their surfaces, preventing plaque and bacteria build-up, leading to cavities and gum disease. Smoothening these teeth makes them easy to clean, further protecting you from cavity-causing bacteria and plaque. Visit our office for dental sealants in Westport, CT.

Who Needs Dental Sealants?

Sealants are particularly recommended for children and teenagers as they have a high risk of tooth decay due to snacking and insufficient oral hygiene. Still, your dentist can apply sealants to healthy adult teeth. Experts recommend using sealants on molars and premolars as soon as possible. Contact our dentist in Westport, CT, to determine whether you’re eligible for dental sealants.

Oral Health Benefits of Applying Dental Sealants

There are many oral benefits of applying sealants, including:

• Protects your teeth’s enamel 

Even with good oral hygiene, there’s still a risk of food particles and debris getting trapped in the fissures and tips of the back teeth. This debris mixes with the harmful bacteria in the mouth, causing plaque. If not eliminated, plaque hardens to tartar, a hard brown deposit that forms on the teeth surfaces and along the gum line.

These deposits release harmful chemicals, eroding your teeth’s enamel. It compromises your teeth’s integrity, exposing you to oral infections. Applying sealants protects your teeth’s enamel from bacteria and plaque attacks.

• Protects against cavities 

Since dental sealants provide a protective shield over the pits and fissures in the back teeth, you reduce the risk of food debris, bacteria, and plaque build-up. This protects your teeth against bacteria attacks that compromise your tooth’s enamel and cause cavities and decay.

• Protects against Gum disease 

While dental sealants protect your teeth against cavities, they also protect surrounding structures like your gums and jawbone. Dental sealants protect your teeth against plaque and bacteria that cause cavities. If these deposits are on the teeth, they would likely spread to the surrounding gums, leading to gum recession and deep pockets. Over time, this irritates and infects the gum tissues, leading to gum disease.

• Added Support for Your Oral hygiene 

Even the most vigorous brushing may not thoroughly eliminate food debris trapped in your back teeth’ tiny pits and fissures. As we’ve seen above, this puts you at a greater risk of enamel erosion, tooth cavities, and gum disease. Applying sealants smoothens the chewing surfaces of these teeth, making them easy to brush and floss. It improves your oral hygiene significantly, which is essential for maintaining excellent oral health.

Final Verdict

Dental sealants aren’t an alternative to good oral hygiene habits. Even with sealants, you can still develop cavities on the sides of the sealed teeth. Similarly, your dentist doesn’t apply sealants to all teeth. It means you can still develop cavities on these teeth.

Sealants are simply an additional preventive measure to keep your mouth healthy. You should use them alongside good dental hygiene and regular dental assessments and cleanings. For more information about dental sealants near you, contact Advanced Dental of Westport, CT.