Pits and fissure sealant guidelines. Summary guideline.

摘要

SCOPE AND PURPOSE: The guideline aims to address four clinical questions relating to the use of pit and fissure sealants:Under what circumstances should sealants be placed to prevent caries?Does placing sealants over early (noncavitated) lesions prevent progression of the lesions?Are there conditions that favour the placement of resin-based versus glass ionomer cement sealants in terms of retention or caries prevention?Are there any techniques that could improve sealants' retention and effectiveness in caries prevention?METHODOLOGY: Medline was searched for all systematic reviews on pit and fissure sealants, and the reference lists of identified reviews were searched for additional references. A second search was carried out to identify clinical studies published after the systematic review were completed. Publications were included that addressed one or more of the identified clinical questions, had a documented search strategy, and were written in English. An expert panel was convened to evaluate the evidence and develop recommendations. The draft recommendations were submitted to a wide range of scientific experts and organisations for review, following which appropriate changes were made. The evidence was classified and clinical recommendations made using a system modified from the approach taken by Shekell et al.(1) The final clinical recommendations were approved by the American Dental Association Council on Scientific Affairs. REVIEW AND UPDATING: Plans were not specified for future review and updating of this guideline. RECOMMENDATIONS: Using the evidence grading and recommendation systems described by Shekelle(1) (Table 1 and 2) a number of clinical recommendations were made (see summary in Table 3). RESEARCH RECOMMENDATIONS: A number of topics for additional research to improve the evidence base regarding the use of fissure sealants were identified by the expert panels. These are shown in Table 2.