05 June 2019

---

Different sealant modalities: which is the most effective?

Giulia Palandrani

---

The pits and fissures at the occlusal surfaces of molars are retentive areas for food debris and dental plaque and are at an increased risk for development of dental caries expecially in children. Highly cariogenic diet, teeth erupting phase, deep pits and fissures make prevention a fundamental element for their oral health.   In order to prevent dental caries different sealant materials have been widley used.
Which are the best performing sealants?  

MATERIALS AND METHODS         
In an article published in the Journal of International Society of Preventive and Community Dentistry, 176 permanent first molars of 44 children between 6-8 years old were included. Three different pit and fissure sealant materials were studied:       

• ICON, infiltrant resin,
• Seal it, nanoparticle composite based sealant,
• GCP glass seal, nanoparticle glass ionomer-based sealant .

The selected molars randomly classified into four groups according to treatent modalities as the follows:     

• treatment modality number 1 (ICON),
• treatment modality number 2 (Seal it),
• treatment modality number 3 (GCP glass seal),
• treatment modality number 4 (ICON and Seal it).         

The sealant retention and dental caries on the occlusal surface evaluated at different recall visits following 1, 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months.   The sealant retentionwas classified into 4 scores: scora A= sealant is present in all the fissure system; score B = sealants is present in <50% of the fissure system; score C sealant is present in <50% of the fissure system; score D= absent sealant. 

RESULTS 
The 1,3 and 6 months follow up did not show significant differences among sealant modalities. On the other hand there were statistically significant differences among them at 12, 18 and 24 months.  
The retention of Seal It was better than ICON at 12, 18, and 24 months and better than GCP at 12 months.
The number of new carious lesions was higher in the GCP and ICON group than Seal It group at 18 and 24 months and the differences were also statistically significant. (P = 0.013 and 0.000 / P = 0.039 and 0.010, respectively).  
The retention was better in the combination group rather than in Seal, ICON and GCP groups. The number of new carious lesions was higher in ICON and GCP group rather than in combination group. The number of new carious lesions was almost similar between Seal It and combination group.  

CONCLUSIONS 
The combination between  resin infiltrant ( ICON) and nano particle resin based sealant (Seal It) is the most effective sealant method for prevention of pits and fissures caries.  

For additional informations:
The Efficacy of Different Sealant Modalities for Prevention of Pits and Fissures Caries: A Randomized Clinical Trial