Caries reduction 1.5 years after application of a fissure sealant as related to dietary habits.

ABSTRACT

Findings 1.5 years after the application of the sealant revealed that among the 200 sealed permanent first molars, 2.5% of the sealants were lost or partly missing, while 95% of the sealants remained in good condition. During the test period, 7 of the 200 sealed permanent fissures had become carious, while 64 of the respective control fissures had decayed. The percentage effectiveness of the prevention by the present method was 85%. Four out of five molars that had lost the sealants became carious, but of the 190 molars having sealants in good condition, only three were diagnosed as carious. All teeth reported as contaminated with saliva at the sealing session had lost the material. No correlation could be found between the type of food eaten or oral hygiene habits of the subjects and the retention of the sealants.