How Fluoride and Dental Sealants Work

Children’s dental care isn’t vastly different from routine adult dental care, but there are several unique concerns that children have that most adults don’t. Therefore, children’s dentistry includes a number of specific measures designed to help children specifically boost their oral health and dental hygiene efforts. For example, at our Dallas, TX, children’s dental office, we can often recommend topical fluoride treatment and dental sealants, which are non-invasive treatments designed to offer enhanced protection for your child’s teeth against harmful, cavity-causing oral bacteria.

A look at healthy tooth enamel

Both fluoride and dental sealants focus on improved prevention, and that means protecting the layer of enamel that surrounds your child’s healthy teeth. Enamel is a tooth’s first line of defense against oral bacteria and food particles that could potentially infect your tooth structure. Made almost entirely of minerals (such as calcium), tooth enamel is the strongest and most resilient substance the human body produces. However, over exposure to harmful oral bacteria and the substances they produce can quickly wear down healthy tooth enamel, making it vulnerable and unable to properly protect your child’s teeth from decay.

Boosting enamel with fluoride treatment

When tooth enamel grows weak, it does so because its mineral supply is depleted. Over time, and with good hygiene practices, your enamel can regain its mineral composition and strength. Fluoride treatment boosts the remineralization process by directly providing a mineral source that can bond to weakened enamel layers. After applying the fluoride treatment to the surfaces your child’s teeth, the fluoride can successfully bind with the mineral strands of the enamel, making it stronger and more formidable against the bacteria attacking it.

Protecting enamel with dental sealants

Dental sealants are also a topical treatment for your child’s teeth, but they offer protection in a different manner. Instead of bonding with weak tooth enamel, dental sealants completely shield your child’s teeth from bacteria and food particles. The biocompatible acrylic layers are applied to the chewing surfaces of your child’s teeth, blocking debris from becoming stuck in the crevices of those surfaces. The sealants will dissolve safely on their own, minimizing the amount of time you and your child have to spend at the dentist’s office.

Learn more about protecting your child’s smile

Fluoride treatment and dental sealants are two highly effective, biocompatible preventive measures that offer enhanced protection for your child’s teeth. For more information, schedule an appointment by calling Pediatric Dental Care at Casa Linda in Dallas, TX today at 214-321-4880. We proudly serve patients who live around Casa Linda and all surrounding Dallas communities.

filed under: Preventive Treatments