Fissure Sealants

Fissures are the grooves or valleys that occur on the biting surfaces of your back teeth. If the fissures are deep and narrow a toothbrush bristle will not fit into the fissure and will not remove the plaque or food. Decay tends to occur in certain places in teeth and the very bottom of a fissure is one of these spots.

 

In children and adolescents these fissures are particularly vulnerable.  Fissure sealants are hard plastic coatings that fill these fissures and prevent decay.  management   involves cleaning the tooth, keeping the tooth dry while the fissure sealant is placed in the fissures and then set with the light. The bite is then checked.  It would normally take a few minutes per tooth.

 

Sealants can wear and come off.  If this happens there is no damage to the underlying tooth but the fissure may need to be replaced.

 

Sealants are normally placed in adolescents after the adult teeth erupt.  They are not routinely placed in adults.  This is because if you have reached adulthood with a sound tooth the tooth will probably remain sound unless your lifestyle changes.  Also adults tend to get decay in different parts of the tooth (places that cannot be protected with sealants).

A tooth before and after fissure sealing.