Objectives: Because for ethical reasons clinical trials on the effectiveness of fissure sealants cannot be run, their effectiveness in preventing dental fillings (due to caries) in dental practices was analyzed on the basis of clinical dental records. Methods: Time of tooth eruption, sealing and dental caries of fissures were obtained from the annual dental status forms of 4938 subjects from the age of five years to 20+ years of age in Finland, Sweden and Greece born in 1970's or 1980's. The survival time between tooth eruption and placement of either sealant and/or filling was estimated as a cumulative distribution function. Results: After sealant treatment, 30-40% of molars were filled and the corresponding figures of non-sealed molars were 60-80% at the end of the follow-up of 10+ years. The difference was not as pronounced in premolars. The sealing strategy in patients at risk of caries was as efficient as the strategy of sealing all fissures in practice. Early sealing did not result in better outcome than later sealing did. Conclusions: The caries reduction of non-sealed teeth between the 1970 and 1980 cohorts was also considerable indicating that successful caries prevention can be obtained also without the use of sealants.

Back to the Oral Health Research Program
Back to the IADR/AADR/CADR 80th General Session (March 6-9, 2002)

Top Level Search