‘Sealant Saturday’ event provides free dental work for children

Over the buzz of oral suction devices, Annette M. Russell spoke to two dental hygiene program students as they used a light to set sealant they just applied to several teeth of their young patient.

Russell, the program director of the dental hygiene program at Baltimore City Community College, was overseeing a handful of students applying sealant to the teeth of nine patients Saturday at a clinic at the school’s Life Science building at the Liberty Heights Avenue campus.

The event, “Sealant Saturday,” was held at locations across the state in conjunction with the Maryland Dental Hygienists' Association, providing dental hygienist students an opportunity to practice their craft, and prolonging the enamel of patients between the ages of 5 and 18 for free.

The sealants provide a thin plastic protective coating to prevent food and bacteria from accumulating in the grooves of teeth, keeping cavities from forming. Normally, the treatment can cost $20 to $30 a tooth, Russell said. The treatment lasts seven to 10 years. “For kids, it’s important because parents don’t keep up with the brushing,” especially among teens and preteens, who often need reminders to brush, she said.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tooth decay remains the most common chronic disease of children ages 6 to to 19.

Only about 43 percent of children between the ages of 6 and 11 have sealants. Those without have almost three times more cavities than children who have undergone the procedure.

Untreated dental issues can cause serious health problems. In 2007, 12-year-old Deamonte Driver of Prince George's County died after an untreated dental infection spread to his brain.

Sabrina Sirnik, 35, a second-year student in the program, said the event not only provides her a chance to practice her skills but to give back to the community in a meaningful way.

“We’re providing a positive service to the public, something that is going to keep you from getting cavities in the future,” she said.

She was assigned to 12-year-old Qamar Overton.

Sirnik, who has applied sealants to patients before, said the process is not too tricky.

For the patients, she said, the main discomfort is keeping their mouths open for an extended period of time.

First, the teeth are polished with a pumice brush to rough up the surface so that the sealant adheres to the tooth. The sealant is then applied tooth by tooth, using a small brush to paint it on. A light is used to cure it, which takes about 20 seconds.

Qamar’s grandmother, Brenda Overton, 57, sat in a waiting room outside the clinic during the procedure.

She said she brought her grandson to the event after he missed a previous appointment with his dentist to have sealant applied. The event was convenient, she said, since she works as an associate professor of nursing at the community college.

She said he’s not had problems before with keeping his teeth clean, but the treatment is important as he gets to an age where is responsible for brushing.

“He’s a 12-year-old boy. That’s at that age where you have to remind them to brush your teeth,” she said.