A One-Year Evaluation of a Free Fissure Sealant Program.

Statement of problem: Pit and fissure sealant therapy has been approved as an effective measure in the prevention of occlusal dental caries. Resin based materials are the most common materials used worldwide. A variety of resin based fissure sealants are produced and used. Most of them have been presented with ideal results in research environment. However, their effectiveness in the real life, especially in a mass application program such as Iran's oral health reform plan is not clear.

Objectives: To evaluate the longevity of different fissure sealant applied in Iran's oral health reform plan in Fars Province (south of Iran) after one year.

Materials and methods: Seven counties were selected. One hundred 6- to 8-year-old school children who had undergone fissure sealant therapy in spring 2015 were randomly selected from each county. Their first molars were examined to evaluate the status of the fissure sealants which were applied one year ago. Data on the type/brand of fissure sealant materials, type and experience of clinicians who applied them, existence of a chair-side assistant, and whether the children were caries-free at the time of fissure sealant application were collected from the existing reports.

Results: Data of 1974 teeth from 598 children were used for the final analysis. The effects of type/brand of the material was significant on the final results and remained significant (p < 0.001) after adjustments for the level of fluoride, urban/rural area, upper/lower jaw, type of clinician who applied the sealant, existence of a chair-side assistant, and child's gender, age, and being caries-free.

Conclusions: Many factors affect the success rate of a fissure sealant therapy program. The type/brand of the material remained significantly related to the success rate of the fissure sealant even after adjustments for other influencing factors. In this study, ClinproTM Sealant (3M/ESPE, USA) showed better longevity after one year of application.