Effectiveness of fissure sealant 3 years after application

Abstract

– Findings 3 years after the application of a fissure sealant revealed that of the 166 sealed permanent first molars, 7.8 % of the sealants were missing or partly missing, 14.5 % were in fair condition, and 77.8 % had remained in good condition. During the 3‐year test period, 7.8 % of the sealed permanent molars had become carious, while 63.3 % of the respective control teeth had decayed. The teeth which had sealants in good condition showed no caries, whereas 92.3 % of the teeth which had sealants missing or partly missing showed carious fissures. The net gain in the study was 104, and the percentage effectiveness of the method was 88.1 %. The treatment effect was found to be very significant when analyzed on the basis of homologous paired test‐control teeth (P < 0.001). The sealing of pits and fissures was found to have a positive treatment effect on 60.2 % of the subjects when evaluated on an individual basis (0.1 < P < 0.05).

Caries reduction over 5 years from a singie application of a fissure sealant

“…The selection of the subjects and the criteria used in clinical recordings have been previously described (LuoMA et al 1973, MEURMAN et al 1975, MEURMAN &: HELMINEN 1976…”