Cleaning, fluoride & sealants
Preventive dental services for children, with advice on caring for teeth between visits.
Two windows worth knowing about
The first permanent molars arrive at about six or seven, and their cavity risk peaks in the two years straight after they come through, while the enamel is still hardening. That is the moment to seal them. The second window closes rather than opens: too much fluoride can only mark a tooth while it is still forming, and that risk is over by about eight.
Not sure where your child sits in either window? A check settles it.
Preventive dental care for children: a clean and a check every six months, fluoride varnish to strengthen the enamel, and sealants over the deep grooves in the back teeth where most childhood cavities begin. None of it involves a drill, and most of it is finished inside half an hour.
Is this your child?
Every child benefits from a six-monthly clean. Sealants are worth asking about sooner if:
- The first permanent molars have come through, usually around six or seven
- You can see deep, narrow grooves in the back teeth that trap food
- They have had a cavity before — one makes the next more likely
- They snack often, or the diet is high in sugar
- Brushing is difficult, whether because of additional needs or because it is simply a nightly battle
- A medication leaves their mouth dry
- A new tooth has come through discoloured or rough rather than smooth and white
What a preventive visit involves
- 01The cleanPlaque and hardened tartar are removed from every surface, then the teeth are polished and flossed. About twenty to thirty minutes, with no numbing.
- 02Fluoride varnishA concentrated fluoride solution is painted straight onto the teeth. It takes a minute or two, sets to a coating that keeps releasing fluoride for weeks, and is applied at every six-month check.
- 03Sealants, where the grooves ask for themThe tooth is cleaned and dried, a mild etch is applied and rinsed off, the sealant is painted into the grooves and set with a blue light. Two to five minutes a tooth, no drill and no injection.
- 04The half you take homeWhich toothpaste, how much of it, and the technique. Prevention is mostly what happens in your bathroom rather than in our chair.
What each one actually does
The chewing surfaces of the back teeth are not flat. They are a landscape of narrow fissures, some too tight for a single toothbrush bristle to enter. Studies of where cavities actually form in children put roughly 80 to 90 per cent of them on those surfaces — not between the teeth, and not on the smooth sides.
A sealant is a thin coating painted over that landscape and set hard, so food and bacteria have nowhere to settle. The Cochrane Review, the highest standard of evidence in medicine, puts the reduction in cavity risk at up to 76 per cent after two years, with meaningful protection continuing past four.
Fluoride works differently. It hardens enamel while teeth are still forming, rebuilds the earliest decay before it becomes a hole, and interferes with the bacteria that make the acid. One protects broadly; the other protects deeply. Neither replaces a toothbrush, and neither reaches between the teeth, which is what flossing is for.
How long it lasts
A well-placed sealant usually lasts five to ten years. It is inspected at every six-month visit and topped up or replaced in a few minutes if it has chipped or worn — grinding wears them faster. A partly worn sealant still protects the grooves it is still bonded to.
Somewhere between six and ten per cent of sealed teeth develop a cavity within four years, almost always where a sealant wore down and was not replaced. The regular check is what keeps that number where it is.
Between visits, at home
Fluoride is the part parents most often get wrong, and they get it wrong in both directions. In Dubai the picture is specific:
- Use a 1000 ppm fluoride toothpaste — a rice-grain smear under three, a pea from three onwards
- Brush your child’s teeth for them, or supervise closely, until around seven or eight
- Teach them to spit rather than rinse. Rinsing washes the fluoride away before it can work
- DEWA tap water carries roughly 0.1 to 0.5 mg/L of fluoride, below the level considered optimal — and bottled brands range from almost none to a useful amount, rarely stated on the label
- Do not start fluoride drops or tablets on your own; they follow an assessment, or they do not happen
- The window in which too much fluoride can mark a forming tooth closes at about eight
Who you would see
Dr. Mustafa AbdallaSpecialist Pediatric Dentist & Dental Director
Dr. Shaima BuhamerSpecialist Pediatric Dentist
Dr. Sharifa AlHajSpecialist Pediatric Dentist
Dr. Sara Atif MustafaSpecialist Pediatric Dentist
Every doctor consults in English and Arabic.
Does any of this hurt?
A clean and a fluoride varnish need no numbing and no drill. A sealant needs no injection either. Your child feels a cotton roll keeping the tooth dry, some water, and a light held near the tooth for about twenty seconds. Afterwards the tooth feels slightly different to the tongue. That is the whole of it.
Do sealants mean my child already has a cavity?
No — the opposite. Sealants go onto healthy teeth to keep them healthy, and they work best before anything has started. If a dentist has suggested them it is because the grooves are deep, not because there is already a problem.
Is Dubai tap water fluoridated? Should we be supplementing?
DEWA water is safe to drink and carries some fluoride, typically 0.1 to 0.5 mg/L, which sits below the level considered optimal for preventing cavities. Bottled water varies enormously by brand. For most children the answer is better toothpaste habits rather than supplements — and supplements should only ever follow an assessment, because over-the-counter dosing is how children end up with mottled enamel.
What if a cavity has already started?
Not every cavity needs a drill. Silver diamine fluoride is a liquid painted onto the cavity that kills the bacteria and hardens the softened tooth. It takes one to three minutes a tooth, with no injection and no drilling, and arrests 60 to 90 per cent of active cavities. The trade-off is that the treated area turns permanently dark, which matters on a front tooth and rarely on a back one. Ask the dentist whether it suits your child’s case.
How often should we come?
Every six months for most children. That is when varnish is reapplied and existing sealants are checked. Your dentist may suggest a shorter interval if your child’s teeth build plaque quickly or have already had cavities.
What will this cost?
Tell reception your insurer when you book. We hold direct billing agreements with fifteen insurers, and cover differs between the pediatric and dental departments, so we check your eligibility before the appointment rather than at the desk. Anything not covered can be split into four payments with Tabby.
Your next step
Start with a conversation.
Tell us what is on your mind and reception will confirm the right specialist and a time.
- Opening hours
- Sat-Fri: 9AM - 6PM
- Insurance
- Direct billing with 15 insurers. Check yours
- Find us
- Al Razi Building 64, Block B
Dubai Healthcare City