As a parent, you might have heard about Dental Sealants. Either you heard it from a fellow parent, or maybe you came across the term in a parenthood article. We are today going to explain what are dental sealants? What are their benefits? What food items are not to be consumed after your child undergoes the treatment.
Dental sealants are a good and reliable way of preventing your child’s teeth, especially their molars, from getting decayed. However, certain measures must be put in place or rules to adhere to that will help enable the sealants to perform their duty effectively and serve the child better in the long run.
Dental sealants, as we know, are no substitute for brushing and flossing. It only helps to protect areas of the teeth that may not be properly washed or flossed because of how the teeth are positioned in the mouth or the child’s inability to do thorough flossing of their teeth.
Parents who are concerned about the oral hygiene and condition of their children’s teeth are those who will go the extra mile to ensure that their children undergo the best oral practices to have their teeth well catered to. Truth is, you need to ensure that your child or children’s dental sealant treatment is effective, and for this, you may also want to take the post-treatment care more effectively to have a good result of what you intend to see.
It is necessary that you contact the best dentist in Weston, Florida, for your child’s dental sealant treatment, and you have to pay close attention to the instructions that the dentist will give you after the treatment. You can count on the Pediatric Dentistry of Weston to carry out their responsibilities perfectly, but you also have to heed the dos and don’ts.
Some parents ask if the child can eat after the treatment or not. The answer is yes. At the initial stage, when the sealant has just been fixed, the sealant will probably be soft as it tries to adjust to the shape of the teeth. It takes about a day or two days before the sealant gets hardened, then the sealed teeth will begin to function like every other tooth in the mouth. Although, there are some food items the child will have to avoid so that the lifespan of the sealant will be assured. The pediatric dentist would certainly inform you of those meals the child should not eat and meals the child can eat. This is because some meals are toxic or not suitable for the sealant that has been fixed to the teeth, and the only way to have the sealant last long is to avoid those meals.
There are quite a number of them that we would discuss here and the reasons why they should be avoided for the sealants to work effectively.
Food Items To Avoid After Dental Sealants
Those who haven’t had the dental sealant treatment yet may be having second thoughts as to whether to proceed with the treatment or not upon identifying that certain food items must be avoided. This is nothing to be worried about considering what you hope to achieve at the end of the day, which is a long-lasting sealant.
Having to avoid certain meals for the child does not mean an entire change of diet; rather, it means that some foods that were regularly consumed could be eaten occasionally, unlike the previous regular consumption. Dental sealants are usually made of medical-grade resin and are similar to the material used as dental fillings to treat cavities. Therefore, food items that are could corrode the resin material should be avoided.
The food items that the child should avoid or occasionally consume are food that is sticky, hard, or involves prolonged chewing.
Sticky Foods
As mentioned earlier, the sealants are medical-grade resin. When they come in contact with sticky food constantly; they gradually begin to pull out. Chocolates fall within this category of sticky foods. This is because they tend to stick to the teeth while it is being chewed. Although some chocolates are not as sticky as others, nevertheless, their consumption should be minimal or avoided for the time being.
textBecause children are great fans of chocolates, it will be a bit difficult to keep your child from them, hence the need to apply the reduction method. You should see to it that their intake of sticky chocolates should be cut down in order for you to avoid this from having a bad effect on the sealants.
Hard/Tough Foods
These are another set of food that should be avoided. Because of how strong the edible item maybe, a lot of pressure will be required while crushing and chewing it; this has a way of affecting the sealant, making it more vulnerable to wearing out easily. Sealants most times are applied to the molars, and it is the molars that help out with crushing hard or strong items. Edibles like ice cubes and other crunchy meals can be avoided or crushed first before your child consumes them.
It is true that as a parent, you may be limited in monitoring the food your child is consuming every time; however, you must let your child become aware of your reasons for putting those restrictions on the meals they were consuming regularly. The child should be with you all through your meetings with the pediatric dentist, before and after the treatment. They should also be present at the meeting when the dentist is informing you of the food items that must be avoided. This will help them adjust well when the rules are being enforced.
Conclusion
Having established the fact that dental sealants are a good way to help prevent your child’s teeth from getting decayed as a result of improper brushing or flossing, we have also stated that for your child to have a long-lasting dental sealant treatment, there are food items that must be avoided. The lifespan of a dental sealant treatment is between two to five years. Following the guidelines will ensure that your child’s teeth are protected from cavities for a long time.