Sealants
What are Sealants?
Sealants are a protective covering that is applied to the chewing surfaces of your child’s back teeth. These sealants provide a barrier between the teeth and the bacteria and plaque inside your child’s mouth. They can help to prevent decay and even deep staining of the grooves and fissures of the back teeth. We use <h-color>BPA-free sealants<h-color> in our practice for safe, effective preventative care.
Laser Frenectomy – How Does It Work?
A soft tissue laser does not cut. Instead, it vaporizes tissue with light energy almost painlessly. In addition, the laser procedure causes almost no bleeding. Lasers sterilize at the touch and therefore cause less risk of infection. Healing is very quick—a laser stimulates bio-regeneration. The result is beautiful tissue and less chance of relapse.
Tongue Tie
What Does It Really Mean?
Ankyloglossia, or tongue-tie, is the restriction of tongue movement as a result of fusion or adherence of the tongue to the floor of the mouth. A tongue-tie is caused by a frenum that is abnormally short or attached too close to the tip of the tongue.
Normal tongue function is important for multiple reasons. Among the many benefits, normal tongue function allows a baby to latch adequately and breastfeed efficiently, promotes normal speech development, makes it possible for a child to self-cleanse the mouth during eating, supports adequate swallowing patterns, allows for proper growth and development, and makes fun little things like eating ice cream, kissing, or sticking your tongue out to catch snowflakes possible.
Challenges That Can Occur With A Tongue-Tie
- Inability to open mouth widely, affecting speech and eating habits
- Inability to speak clearly when talking fast/loud/soft
- Clicking jaws
- Pain in jaws
- Protrusion of the lower jaw (inferior prognathism)
- Effects on social situations such as kissing, licking ice cream
- Dental health complications such as a tendency toward inflamed gums and increased need for periodontal surgery
- In the elderly, difficulty in keeping a denture in place
Lip Tie
How Can A Lip-Tie Affect My Child?
A LIP-TIE OCCURS WHEN THE UPPER LIP REMAINS ATTACHED TO THE UPPER GUM. CHALLENGES THAT CAN OCCUR IN CHILDREN AND INFANTS WITH MODERATE TO SEVERE LIP-TIES INCLUDE:
- Pain with breastfeeding
- Inability to adequately flange the maxillary lip upward during breastfeeding, affecting an infant’s latch and ability to create a good seal
- Formation of a large gap between the maxillary central incisors, called a diastema
- Difficulties with brushing and flossing
- Increased risk of dental decay
- Repeated trauma to the maxillary frenum because it is so low and prominent
Why would your child need Sealants?
Most children don’t have the best brushing and eating habits. By not properly brushing, flossing and watching sugar intake, your child is more prone to developing tooth decay. Over time, this decay can cause tooth loss, leaving your child without enough teeth to properly eat and chew until the permanent teeth fall into place. In order to protect the back teeth, which are often the most vulnerable, sealants can be applied.
Who is a candidate for Sealants?
Most children are good candidates for our BPA-free sealants. The procedure takes just minutes and no anesthetic or drilling is required. In fact, sealants are clear, so no one but the dental team will even know they’re in place. They can last for anywhere from one to three years depending on the amount of wear they receive.
What can you and your child expect during the procedure for Sealants?
The procedure to place sealants takes just a short time in our office. Dr. Ong will first clean and dry the back teeth. Liquid sealant is brushed onto the chewing surfaces to cover all the little grooves and crevices in this area. The sealants are then cured with a safe, bright light to prevent them from falling away. The process is repeated for most of the back teeth. Once applied, your child can go about their day normally without the worry of problematic tooth decay. Sealants are not an excuse to forgo brushing and flossing, since they only protect the chewing surfaces of the back teeth.
Providing dental sealants at our Bellevue location, Art of Pediatric Dentistry serves the surrounding areas of Kirkland, Redmond, and Issaquah. Sealants are an effective preventative measure to protect your child's teeth from decay. If you feel that your child would benefit from sealants, call us today so that one of our helpful staff members can further assist you.
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