Resin-Based Fissure Sealants

This retrospective study aimed to evaluate the long-term performance of resin based fissure sealants applied in a general dental practice. To do this it set out to evaluate sealant retention and failure rates.
This study took place in a general dentistry practice located in the Netherlands. The group studied consisted of regularly attending patients who visited the practice for routine exams during the period from July 2006 until November 2007. Patients that had one or more resin-based sealants placed by both dentists or oral hygienist on their permanent teeth before January 1st, 2000 were selected and the sealants were included in the study. A single operator recorded the date and location of sealant placement on the tooth surfaces from patient records. There was no reapplication performed where a sealant had degraded over time. During the …show more content…
A sealant was considered a failure if an occlusal restoration occurred or a caries lesion was present during examination. The absence of a sealant was not considered as a failure of the sealant.1204 sealants placed in 148 patients with an average age of 21.4 years was investigated. 477 of the sealants were placed in premolars, 501 in first permanent molars, and 226 in second permanent molars. Gender was fairly balanced with 52% female and 48% male subjects. Patients were categorized into different restoration profiles based on the number of restorations per patient placed in both the primary and permanent dentition since the first sealant application was noted. The median number of restorations placed per year was 0.33, patients with a higher number than that were placed in the high restoration category and those with a lower number were placed in a low restoration profile. High restoration profile patients received three times as many occlusal restorations as low restoration profile