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this post was submitted on 09 Sep 2023
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You know how they seal kids teeth, and insurance covers it? It basically keeps kids from getting cavities until the sealant eventually wears off. Well, they could put the same sealant on adults. But they don’t.
I've lived in at least two places where that treatment is available for adults. Insurance may cover it depending on what kind of insurance you got, it is expensive but not ridiculously so in comparison to other dental procedures.
Uh, no, i don't. Sounds weird, where do they do this?
I had it done in the USA in the 90s when I had my adult teeth, not sure if it was before or after I got my 12 year molars. I asked about it a few years ago and the dentist said that insurance only covers it for kids.
What do they use for sealing? I'm swiss and we don't do this. Is it because you have corn sirup everywhere?
edit: so, uh, is this widespread?
I'm German and this is definitely also done here
I have no idea. It’s white and it cures hard with exposure to UV light. It might just be filling media used as a surface sealant—not a dentist, sorry.
They call them “dental sealants.”
Here’s a government website about it: https://www.nidcr.nih.gov/health-info/dental-sealants
Money making scheme?
I don't know enough on this to comment. Before today, I admittedly didn't consider that countries like Switzerland didn't use them...
Almost all children in USA get sealants as a preventative measure, in my experience.
I wonder if we do this in Canada. I've never heard of it.
Germany.
They do that?
Yes. It covers the top of the teeth kids still need to brush really well because you can easily get cavities in between your teeth, etc..
is that the mouthgaurd filled with flavored goo that you have to keep in your mouth for 29 minutes while you drool all over yourself?
That's flouride. https://asantedental.ca/blog/dental-fluoride-include-part-oral-routine/
And you're basically supposed to do the same thing twice a day with your toothpaste, which is why the tube says "spit out after brushing" and not "make a little cup with your hand and use it to swish some water from the sink around in your mouth, rinsing most of the fluoride off before it has a chance to work".
But it tastes so bad…
Buy better tasting toothpaste
you're not wrong, but almost half a century on this rock and have never encountered a "better tasting"
Assuming you mean there's an actual good one that exists. I remember my aunt used a Disney/bubblegum that was meant for kids well into her forties until she couldn't find it anymore. There's those, I guess?
I suppose there are some people who just hate the taste of mint. I can’t fault the you for that, especially if you’ve tried several different brands and hate them all.
I have found several high, fluoride mouthwashes, however, that don’t quite taste like mint. They have a sort of… Well, I’m not really sure how to describe the flavor. But it’s not really mint. Best of luck!
what I don't get is all of the different kinds all touting unique benefits. like anti-cavity, or whitening, or fluoride, or whatever. how come there isnt a toothpaste that has all of the benefits rolled into one tube? why do I have to choose?
My wife works in dental insurance so I asked her. She said for the general public, the effectiveness of the sealant decreases as the client ages, because an adult's tooth is more smooth than a child's. So there's a critical age where the cons outweighs the pros.
If you think that the entire dental industry is fully prepared and willing to negate billions of dollars in profit per year but the porosity of adult teeth has simply tied their hands... I've got a couple bridges to sell you.
I am 38 and have so far had no cavity. Turns out adults have a very easy handle on dental hygiene, brushing your teeth, flossing and avoiding candy and sweet drinks
It's useful in immature teeth because the grooves have not yet taken up enough fluoride to be acid resistant enough against the modern diet. Not all immature teeth need them either, as not everyone has those deep grooves. Furthermore, this only protects against decay on that surface if it's done well - and a lot of the time a wriggly kid means saliva has contaminated the surface and now you have an extra interface of failure.
In adults the benefit is a lot less (if the groove was decay prone, they would have formed a cavity there by the time they see a dentist), and doing this procedure may actually increase the risk of decay than reduce (due to the extra interface of failure).
Lastly, this only protects that surface - not in between teeth. A lot of cavities happen between because there's a lot of plaque being left behind there... Because almost nobody flosses properly.
Use your interdental brushes folks! And stop drinking soda... And use extra high fluoride toothpaste.
Does fluoride do anything for adults? I had a retired MD-credentialed public health director recently tell me that it only is useful for the first (7? Can’t remember) years of life.
Mineral constantly comes in and out of the enamel crystal matrix due to acid challenge (which occurs for a variety of reasons), and including fluoride when it goes back in creates a more acid resistant crystal.
This occurs no matter the age of the individual. Systemic uptake is something to be mindful of at young ages, so it's actually important to have not too much when younger, but you can go up to an adult dose past the age of 7.
That’s what I had always heard. He told me the contrary info but then said he still ordered the water to be fluoridated back when he took over a health director position. He’s not a conspiracy guy so I wonder where he got his info. He could be just a bit flaky with age.
One of the reasons we don't seal adult teeth is because insurance doesn't cover it and people don't want to pay for it (there are other reasons like prior fillings, loss of tooth structure, groove being less prominent, etc). If someone asks for it to be done and agrees to pay out of pocket we'll definitely do it.
I've had it done as a young adult. Fluoride treatments too. Maybe my dentist is weird, but some places definitely do it.