Dental Sealants | Brightburrow Pediatric Dentistry

What is a dental sealant?

A dental sealant is a thin resin coating bonded into the deep grooves on the chewing surface of a back tooth. It seals the groove so food and bacteria cannot sit in it. There is no drilling and no numbing, and it takes about ten minutes per tooth.

When should sealants be placed?

Soon after the tooth comes in: around age six for first permanent molars, around age twelve for second molars.

Timing is the part parents most often get wrong. A sealant placed into a sound groove works. One placed years later, into a groove that has already started to break down, does much less. If your six-year-old’s molars are in, this is the appointment to book.

We check sealants at every cleaning and repair chips at no charge.

Last reviewed September 2025 by Brightburrow clinical staff.

Questions about this

Does my child need dental sealants?

Most children benefit from sealants on their permanent molars. Sealants reduce cavities in the chewing surfaces of back teeth by about 80 percent in the first two years, and the deep grooves on those molars are where the large majority of childhood cavities start.

The timing that matters is soon after the tooth comes in, which is around age six for first molars and age twelve for second molars. A sealant placed before a groove starts to break down works; one placed after does not help as much. We check them at every cleaning and repair them for free if they chip.