A 5-year clinical evaluation of the effectiveness of a fissure sealant in mentally retarded Canadian children.

The occlusal fissures of 812 permanent and primary posterior teeth were sealed with an ultraviolet polymerisable resin. A half mouth technique was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the sealant in the prevention of fissure caries. At the end of 5 years 19.3% of 409 teeth in 103 children had the sealant completely intact and fissures were partially sealed in 20.8%. Retention was greatest in the mandibular pre-molars. The decay rate was less than half in the treated teeth compared to the control teeth. The net gain was 62 teeth and the percent effectiveness was 57.9%. Thus there was still a highly significant effect of a single application of the fissure sealant after 5 years. Simple cost benefit calculations indicate that the technique is not suitable as a public health measure but has merit for mentally retarded persons and in private practice situations.