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Sealant tray

Also called: pit and fissure sealant setup

Setup for painting a protective coating into the grooves of back teeth.

Sealants are thin plastic coatings that flow into the grooves of back teeth to keep decay out. The steps are: clean the tooth, isolate and dry it, etch, rinse and dry again, paint on the sealant, light-cure it and check the bite. Keeping the tooth dry is the most important part. Every office's tray list is a little different; this is a common example. Follow your office's tray card.

How to spot it

  1. Cotton rolls, dry angles and a curing light near a small sealant syringe.

On the tray, in order

  1. 1. Mouth mirror
  2. 2. Explorer
  3. 3. Cotton pliers
  4. 4. Prophy angle with brush (or as the material directs)
  5. 5. Cotton rolls and dry angles
  6. 6. Etch with tips
  7. 7. Sealant material with tips
  8. 8. Curing light and shield
  9. 9. Articulating paper and forceps
  10. 10. Saliva ejector or HVE, air-water syringe tip

Safety and care

  1. Protect eyes from the curing light with an orange shield.
  2. If saliva touches the etched tooth, the area is usually re-etched; follow the product's instructions.

Related

Sources: ADA Oral Health Topics. Dental Sealants (with ADA/AAPD 2016 guideline), RDH Magazine. Dry idea (isolation with dry angles and cotton rolls), Relevance of investigating light transmittance through red protective shields in dentistry. PMC5935785