Dental Sealants

Henderson, NV
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An important aspect of the work we do is preventing oral disease. At Joshua M. Ignatowicz DMD & Associates, we strive to incorporate education and helpful measures to increase your ability to maintain a healthy mouth. This includes guidance on brushing and flossing techniques and providing treatments such as fluoride rinses and dental sealants. Joshua M. Ignatowicz, DMD, DICOI understands that preventive care makes a difference. We can help.

Dental sealants are a thin liquid lacquer that we use as a soft brush to paint onto the most vulnerable areas of your teeth. Once hardened, sealants will serve as a barrier between the enamel and bacteria. Sealants are highly successful in preventing disease. Sealants can be applied to the teeth of any of our patients, but are often recommended for:

  • Youth
  • Elderly
  • Have limitations
  • Other Health Ailments

Why Should I Consider Dental Sealants?

Dental sealants can seal, or protect, areas of your teeth that are more difficult to keep clean. Our natural tooth enamel is amazing, it is strong, hard, and provides us the benefit of breaking down food. The enamel is wonderfully designed to perform the task of chewing and mashing food. Enamel has pointy areas, flat areas, with ups and downs to complete its important work. The variations of this design provide a lot of benefits, but can also provide areas where food, debris or plaque can become stuck and then difficult, if not impossible to remove. We don’t cover an entire tooth with the sealant material, rather we look for these areas where bacteria is more likely to become stuck and then clean and seal these areas.

Are Dental Sealants Right For Me?

The application of dental sealants is a non-invasive simple preventive treatment. They can provide benefits to anyone who has them. Any patient can request that sealants are applied to areas that are needed. In general we will make the recommendation to patients where we see the need greatest. This will include:

Our Youth And Adolescent Aged Patients

At Joshua M. Ignatowicz DMD & Associates, we recommend that all young patients who have grown their permanent molars to have sealants applied to their teeth. We recommend this for multiple reasons including:

  • Learning Phase: Adolescent aged patients are still in the learning phase of their oral health. They are learning the benefits and techniques of good oral hygiene and we understand that there is still a lot of learning to continue. Joshua M. Ignatowicz, DMD, DICOI can help your child or teen increase their rate of success by creating a barrier in their most vulnerable spots.
  • Healthier Longer:We want to help your child keep their teeth healthier longer. Teeth that have been damaged by disease can be restored, but the damage has been done. If we can help them keep their teeth cavity or disease free, we can help your child keep their teeth longer.

Our Elderly Patients

Keeping your natural teeth will save you expensive restorations, time in the dental chair, and help you chew your regular diet without the frustrations of missing teeth. Our primary goal is to help you maintain your own natural teeth, restoration is a secondary goal. Dental sealants can help keep disease at bay, keeping your teeth healthier longer.

Patients With Various Limitations

There are multiple physical and mental limitations that can make oral hygiene more difficult. It doesn’t matter what the restriction or hindrance is, we can help you improve your oral hygiene with dental sealants when limitations are making it difficult. Your oral health is important to other areas of your body, let us help you protect your health with this simple step.

Patients With Other Health Ailments

Your health matters. We want our patients to get the treatments they need for whole body health and still continue having good oral health. There are many health ailments, treatments, and medications that can be damaging to your oral health. You may have your saliva reduced due to other medical issues, you may be more prone to infection due to other medical issues and more. When dealing with other health ailments, ask us about dental sealants to protect vulnerable areas of your teeth while your body is healing.

Applying Dental Sealants

The application of dental sealants is a painless simple step that requires a professional eye. We want to create a roadblock for bacteria to have access to your enamel. We begin with a review of your teeth, we look for areas that have overhangs or small spaces in the enamel that would make it more difficult to clean. These are the spots that are most vulnerable to disease. The area is then thoroughly cleaned to remove disease-causing bacteria. Once clean, we then apply an acid wash to the area. This will roughen the enamel just enough to allow for better adhesion of the sealant lacquer. With the area now prepped, the sealant material is painted on with a small brush. There are no needles, no drills, no pain involved in the application of dental sealants. We then use a blue light to cure the sealant material in place. Once hardened, you can then use the tooth as normal.

What To Expect From Dental Sealants

Your dental sealants should remain in place for many years. We will check their status with every dental checkup and can reapply as needed. In some cases, small areas of sealants can break loose and unknowingly be swallowed, this is ok, no harm done. Our experienced dentist at Joshua M. Ignatowicz DMD & Associates is happy to review the information with you at any appointment or over the phone. Dental sealants have been found to reduce the overall caries development in significant amounts. Many of our adolescent patients are even reaching adulthood without ever developing a cavity.

Schedule An Appointment

We can help you be successful with your oral health if you are around Henderson, NV. Ask Joshua M. Ignatowicz, DMD, DICOI and our team about this preventive step and more. For more information, contact our Henderson dental office at 702-473-5100.