Clinical Efficacy of Glass-ionomer Fissure Sealants

Despite numerous techniques for enamel protection, such as topical fluorides, calcium phosphate-based remineralization systems, xylitol, etc., occlusal caries still remains a problem. A carious lesion occurs in pits and fissures of occlusal surfaces primarily due to their specific anatomy, which is considered to be an ideal site for the retention of bacteria and food remnants rendering mechanical means of debridement inaccessible. Sealing pits and fissures is considered to be an effective way of preventing caries development. Today, there is a wide spectrum of available sealing materials. Glass-ionomer cements are mainly recommended for pits and fissures sealing for two reasons. First, they are less susceptible to moisture which allows their use in noncooperable children or in partially erupted teeth where isolation could be a problem, and secondly, due to their potential to act as a fluoride reservoir making enamel more resistant to demineralisation. During last decades, glass-ionomer cements of different physical and chemical properties were used for pits and fissure sealing which probably contributed to variances in their clinical efficacy. The purpose of the study is to clinically examine the caries-preventive effect of a glass-ionomer material for fissure protection in newly erupted permanent molars in children with low, moderate, and high caries-risk.