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Which Teeth Have to Be Sealed?

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Pit and Fissure Sealants

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Abstract

The absolute effectiveness of pit and fissure sealants in preventing the development of new caries lesions or the progress of incipient caries lesions has been proved by randomized clinical trials and systematic reviews thereof. Based on the evidence-based assessment of existing randomized clinical trials performed for this chapter, pit and fissure sealants can be effectively applied on any deciduous or permanent posterior teeth without adverse effects on their clinical performance. However, caries susceptibility varies among different patients and among different teeth within a patient. Therefore, a risk-based assessment on a case-by-case manner by an experienced clinician that takes into account factors like tooth morphology, caries history, fluoride intake, oral hygiene, and patient age needs to be undertaken to maximize the cost-to-benefit value of sealant application.

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  1. Clinic of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry, Center of Dental Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Spyridon N. Papageorgiou & Hubertus van Waes

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  1. Spyridon N. Papageorgiou
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  1. Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Katrin Bekes

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Papageorgiou, S.N., van Waes, H. (2018). Which Teeth Have to Be Sealed?. In: Bekes, K. (eds) Pit and Fissure Sealants. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71979-5_6

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