Community Sealant Program

Resident’s Name: Joanne Lewis Date: March 13, 2009
Article title: Assessment of Retention Rates and Clinical Benefits of a Community Sealant Program
Author(s): Carlos Dorantes, DDS, MS, et al
Journal: Pediatric Dentistry
Volume (number): 27(3)
Year: 2005
Major topic: Community sealant programs
Type of Article: retrospective study and cross sectional study
Main Purpose: (1) to evaluate the retention rates of occlusal sealants in an urban school-based sealant program and (2) to assess the clinical benefits of this sealant program.
Overview of method of research: For the retrospective part of the study, the records of 2,097 children seen by the Jefferson County Health Department (JCHD) in Birmingham, Alabama over a 5-year period were included in the sample. The children ranged in age from 5 to 15 years, were examined at least twice during the 5-year period, and had at least one sealant placed on a permanent first molar (PFM) during the initial visit. The sealed teeth were classified as retained, lost (sealants were lost but tooth was sound on the second examination), or failed (teeth appeared as carious, restored, or missing on the second examination). The children were further divided into subgroups based on the time period between the first and second examination – 6 months to 1 year, 1 to 2 years, 2 to 3 years, and 3 or more years.
For the cross-sectional part of the study, clinical examinations were performed on a group of healthy fifth-grade students who were enrolled in 3 different schools who had previously participated in the sealant program. A total of 103 children were examined, with 51 children having participated in the sealant program (P) vs. 52 non-participants (NP). The DMFT index was recorded for the occlusal surfaces of PFM’s for these children.
Findings: Retrospective study – at the second examination, 72% of the sealants were retained, with 17% of the surfaces appearing as sound. A decline of approximately 10% in retention rates per year was noted. Children with sealants placed between age 6 and 8 showed significantly higher retention rates when compared to other age groups.
Cross-sectional study – DMFT index for the PFM’s were significantly different between the P group (0.9 ±1.2) and the NP group (1.5±1.6).
Key points/Summary: Initial age of placement of sealants was on average 8.4 years with a mean DMFT index of 0.8 – could earlier evaluation and treatment have a better outcome? The retention rates found in this study are similar to retention rates found in similar studies.
Assessment of article: A good plug for school-based sealant programs.