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Are pit and fissure sealants needed in children with a higher caries risk?

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Abstract

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to analyse the preventive need of pit and fissure sealants (PFS) in a German population with a relatively high caries risk. The study involved 311 8- to 12-year-old children from the Ennepe–Ruhr District in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Caries experience was scored according to WHO (1997) and ICDAS II criteria. PFS were assessed as intact or partially lost. The mean DFS values amounted to 0.5 for occlusal fissures, 0.2 for palatal/buccal pits and 0.3 for the remaining teeth. Non-cavitated caries lesions were recorded in average on 1.8 occlusal fissures and 1.5 palatal/buccal pits. Sealants were registered on 1.4 occlusal fissures and 0.4 palatal/buccal pits. The descriptive data and the adjusted Poisson regression models revealed that children with at least one fissure sealant are less likely to have decayed fissures or fissures with non-cavitated lesions on their permanent molars. Therefore, PFS are needed and indicated in caries-risk children.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Public Dental Health Office, Schwelm, Germany

    Susanne Berger, Inka Goddon & Helga Senkel

  2. Helmholtz Zentrum of Munich, German Research Centre for Environmental Health, Institute of Epidemiology, Neuerberg, Germany

    Chih-Mei Chen

  3. Dr. von Hauner Children’s Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Munich, Germany

    Chih-Mei Chen

  4. Department of Conservative Dentistry and Periodontology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Munich, Germany

    Reinhard Hickel & Jan Kühnisch

  5. Department of Preventive Dentistry, University of Jena, Jena, Germany

    Lutz Stösser & Roswitha Heinrich-Weltzien

  6. Poliklinik für Zahnerhaltung und Parodontologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Goethestraße 70, 80336, Munich, Germany

    Jan Kühnisch

Authors
  1. Susanne Berger
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  2. Inka Goddon
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  3. Chih-Mei Chen
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  4. Helga Senkel
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  5. Reinhard Hickel
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  6. Lutz Stösser
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  7. Roswitha Heinrich-Weltzien
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  8. Jan Kühnisch
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Correspondence to Jan Kühnisch.

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Berger, S., Goddon, I., Chen, CM. et al. Are pit and fissure sealants needed in children with a higher caries risk?. Clin Oral Invest 14, 613–620 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-009-0343-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-009-0343-8

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