Efficacy of Glass-ionomer Fissure Sealants

Despite numerous techniques for enamel protection, occlusal caries still remains a problem. Sealing pits and fissures is considered to be an effective way of preventing caries development. 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. 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.