Article
Fissure sealants are a powerful weapon in prevention programmes, but some people still express concern on the possibility of inadvertently sealing over an active carious lesion. [Clinically the technique of the preventive resin restoration, whereby a suspicious fissure was investigated with a bur before applying the sealant, has now been termed the destructive resin restoration and has largely been abandoned in teaching centres.] This paper reports early work with a new form of fissure sealant that contains amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP). Three different commercial sealants containing a mixture of ACP and fluoride were tested to compare the remineralization of artificially induced carious lesions in ten volunteer patients who wore acrylic palatal devices for the five days of the double-blind experiment.
The paper describes the chemistry and dental material science involved, but concludes that the sealants containing ACP and/or fluoride were able to promote in situ remineralization of artificially induced carious lesions on smooth enamel surfaces. This in situ methodology was able to distinguish the effect of fluoride and calcium-phosphate releasing materials using different analyses and may be applied in tests of new formulations of dental materials.
An interesting paper, from both a dental material science and a clinical dentistry perspective.