How important is fissure sealant on children's teeth?

[sofia31]

At £200 per child, is this worth doing? No NHS dentist anymore and had a big shock at the new private dentist. This isn't a one off either, as the back teeth aren't all through yet. Plus everything else they want eg £78 for a quick scale that the NHS used to do in a 10 minute checkup. Feeling rather concerned for the future but appreciate we are lucky not to have paid up until now.

My kids are now 25 and 26. Never had any fillings. Both had seals. But on NHS. at the time I couldn't have afforded them privately so they wouldn't have had them. So lucky.

My siblings had them, I didn't. I have mostly more filling than tooth and siblings have not a filling between the lot of them.

My DC have them and have no fillings

Everyone I know who had them done when we were young had no fillings afterwards. I am in my 50s. I would probably wait until you can have them all done at once though.

My older daughter had it (on the NHS). By the time the younger daughter was old enough I was told that they could only now be done on the NHS for children who had already had fillings, as they were more at risk of needing more.

The dentist also said that she didn't recommend it because 1) it gave people a false sense of security and some were less careful with their brushing as a result 2) sometimes bits of the sealant cracked off which made it even more important that teeth were cleaned properly.

Both children are in their 20s and neither has ever had a filling.

My Mum said we had them as kids, and all have great teeth. I still have no fillings. Just wondering how urgent it is. DC are 10 and 12. They have deep wells in their teeth apparently so would be prone to fillings.

My husband had it as a child and his teeth are literally perfect. No fillings, lovely shiny and white. Me on the other hand, never had it and I've no end of problems

Mine (young adults) had it done - neither has any fillings.

I have them. Never had a filling and now late-40s. More than worth it.

Totally worth it. My 2 kids both had it. One got one filling while he was at Uni, and the other got a small one the other week at age 31.

Never heard of it

I'm 44 and had it done aged 7. Never had a filling.

I didn't have it done -nim 40, I've got 4 fillings already, and I need to have 4 new ones. No nhs dentist, so it's going to cost me £770. I'd say £200 to avoid that is a bloody bargain!

I'm definitely going to have DDs done, but intrigued by @OneForTheRoadThen having it gone at 7 - DDs that age and she's only got 4 adult teeth!

I take it I should have it done when all the adult ones are through bar wisdom teeth, or is 12/13 too late do people think?

I've never heard of this, mind blown! Should children be having it done as par for the course?

My daughter is 28, had the same treatment and at 28 has no fillings. Hers was on the NHS. She was at senior school when she had it done, possibly 12 or 13.

MY NHS dentist has no room for adults but will take children as new patients, which is really good.

My three kids have had it recently , free on NHS. They attend NHS dentist in Scotland.
Our area is classed as deprived though so not sure if that’s why we get it ? Or if it’s free in Scotland in general.

Are school dentists not a thing any more? It's just occurred to me that my son had this done by the mobile dentist who visited school throughout his time at primary, but my daughter has never seen the mobile dentist. Covid hit when she was in Year 2 and I'm guessing the service would have gone on hiatus then but it seems odd that it never returned.

Is this not a nationwide thing?

So it seems lots of us as adults have positive experiences. I don't know anyone whose DC have had it recently though. NHS never mentioned it, or that they had deep wells in their teeth. Perhaps it's more a private thing now. I guess it would be £200 now (4 teeth) then another £200 down the line when the back ones are through fully.

My kids never had it done.
Not a filling between them.
However, unlike me they never had sweets (chocolate and crisps) but no sweets.
And no sugar in drinks.

I had them as a child and have no fillings as an adult.

I had it as a kid and I have loads of fillings 😪

I had them as a child, and the teeth they are in have been problem free. My son got them when his second teeth came through (free, NHS, London). The dentist said it depends on the teeth - deep grooves need sealing.

Most of the children I know have them and my uncles who are dentists are in favour of them.

Btw I'm surprised it costs that much because it is a much quicker process now than it was in my day.

Me too!

I have never had that had and have no fillings. I'm 51. My children have also never had it and have no fillings either. I think it depends on how susceptible your teeth are to decay and we're probably just lucky.

My dentist does it as part of a check up if he thinks it needs doing. We've never been charged extra for it. He does recommend it though. he also recommends a toothpaste that he says is particularly good, and you can get on prescription.

But he is one of a kind and amazing.
eg I broke a tooth right at the start of lockdown, as in the first Monday when everything was closed. I phoned the mobile emergency number with absolutely no hope that anyone would answer. He answered and told me he was actually packing things away at the surgery at that moment, so if I could get down he'd have a look.
He repaired the tooth (no drilling though) and refused to take any money for it.

If he hadn't done that, I seriously don't think I'd have been able to eat properly until they reopened, as it had left a really sharp point and even closing my mouth hurt. If I'd tried to eat, I'd probably have broken it further, and it certainly would have been rotting by the time they reopened.