[residualmind]

I lost multiple teeth and spent some time in an ER due to infections of bad root canals. The root canals were the result of teeth rotting due to them being badly "sealed" (covered with some sort of plastic, something they apparently did in the 80s). They were being sealed because I as a kid with no idea what was going on was taken along to some other family's dentist and that dentist just did the sealing. Oh yeah, somewhere in between all this, all my lead fillings were replaced with something better, which was probably a good decision. 80s Germany, yay!

[Bombthecat]

That sealings break or stop working is normal. The question of how long, I have sealing which are like 20 years old, no issues, then I had one bad dentist who was close to pension, and did a TERRIBLE job on all my teeth. Basically, all the teeth she did got root canal issues... a year or so ago, one of m fillings needed to be redone, it was like 5 years or so old...

[residualmind]

They did not break or stop working. The teeth basically rotted (cavities) underneath the sealings, which went unnoticed. Later dentists told me those sealings (how they were done on me) were criminal.

[Nursie]

I had that sealant thing done when I was a kid IIRC, on some of my molars. In the 80s.

I’ve had a root canal, I think on one of those!

Delving deep into my memory… “Fisher Sealant” ?

Edit - LOL memory is a funny thing. It’s probably “Fissure Sealant”

[pnutjam]

Sealants are still pretty standard. All my kids have them and most US Dental insurance covers it.

[Nursie]

Fair enough.

I can find articles about how they may be overused and less useful than thought… but you can find those sorts of articles for any medical treatment and frankly I’m not qualified to evaluate the evidence anyway.

I guess I was wondering if it was one of those things that was done in the 80s but now everyone thinks it’s a bad idea. Guess not!

[residualmind]

Maybe they have become in-fashion again. Back then when I had the problems with bad sealed teeth, the dentist told me you don't do these anymore. But that was 20 years ago.