Effectiveness of School-based Pit and Fissure Sealant Programs in Dental Caries Prevention: A Systematic Review.

Background: Despite the use of fluorides, molars are still susceptible to dental caries, and hence additional preventive programs are essential. School-based pit and fissure sealant programs are one such public health initiative to prevent dental caries in molars. Aims and Objectives: 1. To investigate the effectiveness of school-based pit and fissure sealant programs in the prevention of dental caries in children. 2. To find out whether these programs are implementable in India. Methods: A systematic literature survey was carried out in October 2015 in electronic data bases such as PubMed, PubMed central and Google Scholar, with MeSH terms "PIT AND FISSURE SEALANTS" and key words such as "School based pit and fissure sealant programs". Articles in English published between January 2000 to October 2015 were selected. The outcome measure was the incidence of dental caries among sealed verses unsealed teeth. 31 articles were obtained through searches, of which 25 met the inclusion criteria and were selected for study. Results: The first permanent molars that received sealants had less risk of developing new caries at 1 year of follow-up. The total retention of the pit and fissure sealants (1 year) ranged from 50% to 92 %, and the reduction in caries incidence ranged from 36.2% to 82.4 %. Conclusion: School-based pit and fissure sealant programs result in a significant reduction of dental caries and may be economically viable as the cost benefit ratio is also high. Similar programs could be implemented in India if resources were available. Keywords: pit and fissure sealant, dental caries, prevention