Health officials want to put a lid on the children’s cavity.
Dental sealants covering back teeth could prevent up to 80% of tooth decay in schoolchildren, according to CDC vital signs report published on Tuesday. However, about 60% of children ages 6-11 lack these protective plastic coatings, which dentists began putting on molars in the 1960s to seal the grooves that harbor plaque and bacteria that can cause cavities and caries.
Sealants, which take just a few minutes to paint, are recommended when a child’s first molars come in around age 6 and again when their 12-year molars arrive. ONE 2013 review of sealant studies found that thin veneers effectively reduced cavities for at least four years, although sealants can last up to 10. The CDC reports that cavity rates were three times higher for school-aged children without sealants than for those who had them. they had
“Sealings are a really great, underutilized preventative,” agreed Dr. Mark Hochberg, a pediatric dentist and owner of Smiles4Kids Dental Group in Manhattan.
But the cost can be hard for parents to swallow, as sealants can cost $50 to $125 per tooth depending on your location. And that adds up to several hundred dollars if you’re sealing four to eight teeth.
So the CDC is calling on state officials to move toward more school-based sealant programs. This will especially help the nearly 7 million low-income families whose children are less likely to receive dental care, saving up to $300 million in dental treatment over the long term.
“Many children with untreated tooth decay will have difficulty eating, speaking and learning,” CDC Director Tom Frieden said in the report. “Dental sealants can be an effective and inexpensive way to prevent tooth decay, yet only 1 in 3 low-income children currently receive them. School-based sealant programs are an effective way to get sealants to children.”
Dr. Jeffrey Rappaport, its co-founder Afora Dental membership program launched in New York this fall, caps his sealants at $60 to $65 a piece and has made a push to provide them to low-income schools while studying at NYU.
“It’s a very simple process … but the barrier to entry is probably the access or the price point, which is unfortunate,” he said, because they’re so effective. “We really don’t see as much dental work that is needed [on children] anymore, and a lot of that is evidence for sealants that are done in the dental office and school approaches.”
Dental insurance should cover the procedure as a preventative. But if you’re uninsured, consider skipping sealants on your child’s first molars to save money on fillings for the grown-ups.
And for parents concerned about sealants containing bisphenol A (BPA), which have been linked to early puberty, infertility and breast and prostate cancer, The American Dental Association recently reassured that a 6-year-old child is exposed to more BPA from food, beverages, sunscreen, shampoo, and body wash than the minimal amount in dental sealants. “A lot of new sealants don’t contain BPA, so it’s not really a problem,” added Dr. Hochberg.
But sealants aren’t absolute miracle workers. You still need to brush and avoid sweets. “Sealants are only as good as your brushing and diet,” Dr. Hochberg said. “Sealants don’t mean you can never get a cavity, but they’re really amazing at helping prevent them.”
