Don't Do Sealants that Suck

This if the first of several solo study episodes where I will be reviewing certain pediatric dentistry topics as a way to review for board exams, as well as to review new evidence and clinical studies on the subject.

Today's study topic is on sealants... how to do sealants that don't suck. Placing a good retentive sealant is one of the most technically challenging procedures to do well, and yet we don't critically evaluate how we place them often enough. There's a high degree of bias with how we evaluate our own sealants. We all know that a lot of the previously placed sealants we see come into our offices look anywhere from rough, to partially retained, to recurrent decay garbage. In this episode I review both the literature and my personal thoughts on the following:

- AAPD clinical recommendations for sealants
- Sealing over decay
- Glass ionomer sealants and why you should consider using them
- Air abrasion. The evidence is so strong for it, why does nobody use it?
- Should we be bonding our sealants?
- Isolite and dry shield vs rubber dam vs cotton roll sealants
- Brands of sealant material
- Sealing primary molars

The purpose of these solo study episodes is to review what we know, what the literature says, and to challenge ourselves as providers to constantly improve our quality of dentistry. For any questions, comments, or ideas for future episodes, email me at cgoetz@troypediatricdentist.com