Sealants are a safe and painless way of protecting your teeth from tooth decay. Fissure sealants is a protective plastic coating which is applied on to the grooves of the back teeth. Sealant forms a protective layer that keeps food and bacteria from getting stuck in the tiny grooves in the teeth that causes decay.

Sealants are only applied to the back teeth, mainly the molars and premolars. These are the teeth that have ‘pits’ (small hollows) and ‘fissures’ (grooves) on their biting surfaces. Our dentist will consult you, on which teeth should be sealed after they have thoroughly examined, whether the fissures are deep enough for sealing to help. Some teeth naturally have deep grooves which will need to be sealed meanwhile others have shallow ones which does not need sealing.

Sealants are often applied as soon as the first permanent teeth start to come through (usually between 6 and 7 years of age). The rest are usually sealed as soon as they appear, which can be any time between 11 and 14 years of age.