Clinical Evaluation of Pit-and-Fissure Sealant Retention and Caries Incidence Among Children Aged 8–12 Years in Najaf, Iraq

Abstract

Background: Pit and fissure sealants are used for the prevention of occlusal caries in permanent teeth. Clinical efficacy of the sealants depends largely on the retention of the material. Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the retention of the sealant after six months of application and the incidence of new caries among the permanent premolars and molars of children aged 8-12 years in Najaf, Iraq. Materials and Methods: This prospective longitudinal clinical study included 119 sound permanent premolars and molars in 64 children aged 8-12 years that were treated by sealing with a light-cured resin sealant after 37% phosphoric acid etching and followed up six months later. The retention rate was calculated based on Simonsen’s criteria, while any new carious lesion was recorded. The individual tooth was considered as the statistical unit, and relationships were tested by the Fisher-Freeman-Halton exact test. Results:   At the six months follow up, (119) permanent teeth were evaluated for sealant retention and caries incidence. Complete sealant retention was observed in 94 teeth (79.0%), partial retention in 21 teeth (17.6%), and complete sealant loss in 4 teeth (3.4%). New caries lesions were detected in 4 teeth (3.4%), which were all found in teeth that had completely lost their sealants, and this association was statistically significant (p < 0.001). Complete sealant retention was more likely to be seen in maxillary than mandibular teeth (85.1% vs. 68.9%; p = 0.013) and in premolars than in molars (86.7% vs. 61.1%; p < 0.001) without any significant relation to age (p = 1.000) and gender (p = 0.342).

Conclusion: The six-month retention of the sealant material used was quite good, with the incidence of caries being seen only in those teeth from which the sealant had been lost.