Pulpdent Embrace WetBond Pit & Fissure Sealant — Refills & Bulk Packs · Natural · Standard · 3 mL Syringe

Sealants are generally placed on the tooth in liquid form and then cured either chemically or with light activation. The tooth surface is first treated with an acid etch, to improve wetting of the tooth with the liquid sealant and the mechanical retention of the sealant. A sealant must also be of low enough viscosity to wet the tooth and flow readily into the pits and fissures. Traditional sealants are hydrophobic bis-GMA based materials that need a dry field; moisture-tolerant resin sealants have been developed that can be placed on slightly moist teeth.

A dental sealant is a material applied to the biting surface of a tooth to penetrate the pits and fissures and form a physical barrier on the tooth surface. The grooves, pits and fissures on the biting surfaces of permanent molars can trap food particles and promote bacterial biofilm, which increases the risk of a caries lesion. The FDA regulates a pit and fissure sealant and conditioner — a resin intended to seal pit and fissure depressions in the biting surfaces of teeth — as a Class II device (21 CFR 872.3765). A 2016 ADA and American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry guideline panel found sealants effective in preventing and arresting pit-and-fissure occlusal caries lesions of primary and permanent molars in children and adolescents, compared with not using sealants or using fluoride varnish. The same panel found sealants can minimize the progression of noncavitated occlusal caries lesions of the tooth that received the sealant.

Sealant materials divide by the reaction that sets them: glass ionomers undergo an acid-base reaction, while composite resins set through polymerization, usually started by a dental curing light. Resin-modified glass ionomers and polyacid-modified resins set by a combination of the two reactions, giving products along a continuum between traditional glass ionomers and composite resins. The ADA and AAPD report defined four sealant materials: resin-based sealants, glass ionomer cements or sealants, polyacid-modified resin sealants and resin-modified glass ionomer sealants. There was insufficient evidence at the time the guidelines were formulated to give specific recommendations on the relative merits of one type of sealant material over the others. The ADA states that although dental materials used to treat and prevent caries, sealants among them, can contribute very low level bisphenol A exposure for a few hours after placement, current evidence shows no health concern from BPA exposure from any dental material.

Sources: ADA Oral Health Topics: Dental Sealants · FDA 21 CFR 872.3765, Pit and fissure sealant and conditioner · Priscilla et al. 2022, Moisture Tolerant Pit and Fissure Sealant: A Literature Review (Int J Clin Pediatr Dent) · FDA 21 CFR 872.3140, Resin applicator · Retention of resin-based filled and unfilled pit and fissure sealants: A comparative clinical study, 2015 (PMC4374312) · FDA 21 CFR 872.3200, Resin tooth bonding agent · The Effects of Opaque and Clear Pit and Fissure Sealants on Infrared Laser Fluorescence Measurements, 2014 (PMC4033085)