Children’s dental sealants take a bite out of cavities, health officials report

Health officials want to put a cap on children’s cavities.

Dental sealants covering back teeth could prevent up to 80% of cavities in schoolchildren, according to a CDC Vital Signs report released Tuesday.

Yet about 60% of kids ages 6-11 don’t get these protective plastic coatings, which dentists began putting on molars in the 1960s to seal in the grooves that harbor plaque and bacteria that can cause cavities and tooth decay.

Sealants, which take just a couple of minutes to paint on, are recommended when a kid’s first molars come in at around age 6, and again when their 12-year molars arrive. A 2013 review of sealant studies found the thin coatings effectively reduced cavities for at least four years, although sealants can last for up to 10. The CDC reports cavity rates were three times as high for school-age children without sealants than for those with them.

“Sealants are a really terrific preventative that are underutilized,” agreed Dr. Mark Hochberg, a pediatric dentist and owner of the Smiles4Kids dental group in Manhattan.

But costs can be hard to swallow for parents, since sealants can run $50 to $125 a tooth depending on your location. And that adds up several hundred dollars if you’re sealing four to eight teeth.

So the CDC is calling for state officials to brush up on more school-based sealant programs. This would especially help the nearly 7 million low-income families whose kids are less likely to receive dental care, saving up to $300 million in dental treatment in the long run.

“Many children with untreated cavities will have difficulty eating, speaking, and learning,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden in the report. “Dental sealants can be an effective and inexpensive way to prevent cavities, yet only 1 in 3 low-income children currently receive them. School-based sealant programs are an effective way to get sealants to children.”

Dr. Jeffrey Rappaport, co-founder of the Afora dental membership plan that launched in NYC this fall, caps his sealants at $60 to $65 apiece, and has done outreach to provide them in low-income schools while studying at NYU.

“It’s a very simple procedure to do ... but the barrier of entry is probably access or price point, which is unfortunate,” he said, because they’re so effective. “We really don’t see as much dental work needed [on children] anymore, and a lot of it is a testament to sealants done in the dentist’s office and school outreaches.”