Sealants protect against cavities

Dental sealant program reaches Youngstown's schoolchildren.
By MARALINE KUBIK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Over the past 10 years, a program administered by the Youngstown Health Department has worked to seal out tooth decay for 10,000 city schoolchildren.
The program, paid for by a grant from the Ohio Department of Health, provides dental sealants each year for between 800 and 1,000 children in grades 2 and 6. These age groups were selected, said Jacqueline J. Cannatti, a dental hygienist and coordinator of the dental sealant program for the Youngstown Health Department, because that is usually when 6-year and 12-year molars emerge.
Sealants, she explained, are thin plastic coatings that are applied to the chewing surfaces of the children's back teeth. Sealants protect the pitted and fissured chewing surfaces of these teeth as long as they remain intact -- often up to five years, Cannatti said.
Because most cavities -- 84 percent in children ages 5 to 17 -- occur in the chewing surfaces, she continued, protecting these surfaces can almost eliminate tooth decay. This is especially true during childhood and adolescence because "kids are more prone to cavities," she explained. Children tend to eat sugary foods that promote tooth decay and often lack good oral hygiene practices. "You'd be surprised how many don't even have toothbrushes," she said.
Perfect record: Dental sealants are 100 percent effective in preventing cavities in chewing surfaces as long as the sealants remain intact, Cannatti continued. Better than 90 percent of dental sealants remain intact for at least one year.
Children who receive sealants in second grade are re-examined the following year to ensure that the sealants are still intact. If they aren't, they can be reapplied, Cannatti said. Children are examined again in sixth grade and sealants are reapplied, covering new teeth that may have emerged.
These sealants can remain intact through high school. By that time, Cannatti said, the children have hopefully developed good oral hygiene practices and understand the importance of caring for their teeth.
In most schools, teachers and nurses are responsible for teaching children about the importance of good oral hygiene and oral health "but they have so many other things going on in the schools that dental health is not high on the list," she said. "We're trying to set up a pilot program to get more dental health education into schools but it's in the very early stages." Funding is also an issue, she said.
This year's budget for the dental sealant program is $33,000 and covers schools where at least 50 percent of the students are from low-income families, Cannatti said. Eligibility is determined by the percentage of students who receive free or reduced-price lunches.
Fight against tooth decay: The dental sealant program in Youngstown city schools is one of 19 similar programs in Ohio. This network of school-based dental sealant programs, supported by Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant funds, has resulted in a consistent prevalence of dental sealants among Ohio's 8-year-old students, according to the National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health.
The center also reported that Ohio's school-based dental sealant programs have resulted in 33 percent of the state's black children, 30 percent of its white children and 30 percent of its children from low-income families having dental sealants. Nationwide, 23 percent of all children have dental sealants.
Children most likely to have dental sealants are white, have at least one parent with some college education and have dental insurance. Children least likely to have dental sealants are from low-income minority families with a low level of formal education and no dental insurance.