“What is the difference between sealants and fillings?”
I am a 28 year old male. I want to know what is the difference between sealants and fillings?
12 Answers
Great question, sealants are used as a preventative treatment. Fillings are used for correcting teeth with decay
A sealant is a thin layer of resin that goes over the chewing surface of your tooth and prevents decay from penetrating the enamel. A filling is used when decay has penetrated into the enamel. The decay must be cleaned out with a drill and a filling is used to fill the cavity (hole) created by the decay.
Sealants are done to prevent cavities. Fillings are done when there is a cavity.
Sealants are done on healthy teeth with no decay to attempt to prevent decay. Fillings are done where decay was removed and tooth structure needs to be replaced.
Jim Kline
Jim Kline
Fillings, typically rquire anaesthetic because tooth structure is removed, fillings can be amalgam or composites. Sealants are placed on virgin teeth, they are a thin coating light cured on the enamel. Fillings are bonded to the tooth. Sealants prevent cavities, fillings restore teeth after cavities are removed. Hope that helps.
Fillings are resins that are placed in a tooth after a cavity is removed and cleaned to repair the tooth. Sealants are resins that are place in the grooves of a tooth before a cavity develops in order to prevent a cavity from forming. They are both made of similar materials, however, the are placed for different purposes. Sealants are preventative and Fillings are restorative.
Sealants seal grooves and pits with no tooth alteration.
Dr. Alan Bruce Steiner
Dentist | General Practice
A filling is performed when there is decay. A sealant is done when there are deep grooves that we know will decay and by sealing we can prevent the decay. Sealants generally do not need anesthesia and are done very rapidly. I can do 12 sealants in the time it take to do one filling.
Alan B. Steiner, DMD
Alan B. Steiner, DMD
When a sealant is placed there is no decay present. If decay is present in a tooth a filling is warranted.
A sealant is placed in the grooves of the posterior teeth to prevent cavities. Fillings are placed to treat cavities that have already formed. Sometimes however, a plasty & seal procedure can be done when a cavity is just starting. The decay is scuffed away using a drill, then the sealant is placed in that space. All without using local anesthesia. Conservative and effective.
Sealants does not require drilling any cavity but fillings do
A sealant is a type of filling that is preventative, rather than a traditional filling, which is placed to fill a hole that was formed by a bacterial cavity.
The good thing about sealants is that they prevent the bacteria from growing in the little "nooks and crannies" in your tooth, and therefore, lessen the likelihood of you getting a cavity in the future. Also, you don't need numbing medicine to have a sealant placed. :)
The good thing about sealants is that they prevent the bacteria from growing in the little "nooks and crannies" in your tooth, and therefore, lessen the likelihood of you getting a cavity in the future. Also, you don't need numbing medicine to have a sealant placed. :)
