Dr Mark Vincent of Glenhaven Dental Care says ‘Ask your Dentist about Fissure Sealants, they are a great way to help prevent cavities on your back teeth…’

Sealants are a safe, painless way of helping protect the chewing surfaces of back teeth from decay and cavities. Next time you brush your teeth, take a moment to check out your back ones (the molars and premolars) and you’ll notice they all have grooves, called fissures, running across the chewing surfaces.

In some teeth the fissures/grooves are quite shallow (and easy to clean with a toothbrush) and in others they can be very deep. The deeper the fissure, the easier it is for food to get trapped inside and the more difficult it is for the bristles of your toothbrush to reach all the way into the fissures for cleaning.

If food and bacteria are left to collect in the fissures, then they can start to decay and a hole/cavity will form. An unwanted trip to the dentist is then needed to clean the cavity and restore the tooth with a filling.

To help prevent this, your dentist can examine your back teeth and check if the fissures are deep enough to need protection with a Fissure Sealant – This is a plastic coating that your dentist flows into the fissure, which then forms a hard shield. The shield helps prevent food and bacteria from collecting and it makes the chewing surfaces easier to clean.

The procedure is very straight forward and, in some cases, can be completed within minutes. The procedure is painless, and the teeth will not feel any different afterwards.

Fissure sealants can last for many years but its’ important to keep seeing your dentist regularly to ensure they haven’t worn down over time.

So next time you see your dentist for a check-up, please ask about fissure sealants and check whether your teeth would benefit from them.