Industry updates

Dental sealants are an effective treatment for caries prevention.

Pits and fissure areas in the tooth surface are highly susceptible to dental caries, the disease that causes cavities. Sealants are plastic coatings that are applied to pits and fissures of primary and permanent teeth to prevent and arrest early enamel caries. Some sealants also release fluoride ions to promote remineralization of tooth enamel.

Sealants are an evidence-based preventive measure that are most effective in patients at an elevated risk for dental caries. Contemporary caries management places prevention as a priority instead of invasive treatments like drilling and filling. Recent studies show that five years after placement of a sealant, more than half (61%) of the sealant remains, preventing the spread of caries on the tooth.

Learn more about the latest research on dental sealants through the links below.

• A concise review of dental sealants in caries management – PMC
• Reducing the risk of cavities with sealants – The Journal of the American Dental Association

Willamette Dental and the Skourtes Institute took part in an investigative article on dental sealants, which was recently published in the Journal of the American Dental Association in May 2024.

In early 2024, the American Dental Association released updated recommendations on x-ray frequency, methods and quality.

These recommendations help clinicians develop and implement safety practices that will provide optimal diagnostic value while minimizing radiation risks to patients or personnel.

The guiding principle in dentistry is that the exposure to X-rays needs to be as low as reasonably achievable – an acronym called ALARA – to get the clinical benefit the dentist needs to diagnose.

To do this, X-rays should only be ordered when they are needed and not at an automatic, arbitrary set frequency like once a year for all patients.

These new recommendations also include encouragement for practices to use rectangular collimation, which reduces the X-ray beam to focus on the specific area needed for diagnosis and can reduce radiation exposure significantly.

Lead aprons are also no longer recommended to be worn during X-rays as they are not the most effective way to minimize patient radiation doses. Patient radiation doses can be minimized most effectively with proper use of rectangular collimation, optimal patient positioning during imaging procedures, and implementing appropriate dose-reduction procedures.

At Willamette Dental, all provider practice ALARA as our guiding principle for the safe use of radiograph-based imaging (X-rays) and all offices use rectangular collimation to minimize radiation exposure for patients and employees.

A recent study in 2023 found that a significant proportion of antibiotics prescribed in dentistry are unnecessary and inappropriate. This can lead to the overuse and misuse of antibiotics, increased bacterial resistance, and associated adverse outcomes.

The potential benefit of antibiotic administration must be weighed against the risk of side effects. The current guideline is to ensure accurate diagnosis before prescribing a drug. Then only specific antibiotics for the bacterium causing the infection should be used, rather than broad-spectrum antibiotics, and the duration of treatment should be the shortest amount of time required to eliminate all bacteria causing the infection.

At Willamette Dental, all dental offices follow the current guidelines for prescriptions, including using an electronic prescription program that alerts our providers to any adverse drug interactions.

In partnership with the Skourtes Institute, we are actively working on a grant amongst several institutions, including University of Texas Health Houston, the University of San Francisco, and the HealthPartners Institute, to examine patterns of antibiotic prescriptions compared to current guidelines and find opportunities for improvement.