Enamel Loc Self-Etching Sealant: Is it Reliable?

Enamel LocFrom our hygienists’ perspective, any sealant that will eliminate the steps of acid etching and rinsing would be very desirable. Since we end up placing sealants on kids that are difficult to control, the benefits of such a system would be great, provided that it works.

We are therefore intrigued with the new self-etching sealant system, Enamel Loc, from Premier Dental.

According, to the company, Enamel Loc is:

“The First Self-Etching Light-Cured Pit & Fissure Sealant. “

It’s benefits include:

  • Self-etching: eliminates acid-etch, rinse, dry and bond steps; reduces gagging and saves time
  • One step: Improves results by reducing the chance of site contamination
  • Fluoride release formula, and more… (Find out more at Premier’s website.)

However, we have heard varying accounts of Enamel Loc’s reliability. One local office loves it, but another tried it and returned it because the sealants fell off. What have your results been like?

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Filed Under Operative Dentistry, Restorative, What's Hot, Premier Dental, What's New 

Comments

10 Responses to “Enamel Loc Self-Etching Sealant: Is it Reliable?”

  1. Patrice Barber, DDS on September 13th, 2007 8:02 pm

    We have recently switched to the Enamel Loc sealant system at our practice and have been pretty pleased with the results. We have found that in order for it to work, one must ensure that they are working with a clean tooth surface and allow the sealant material to set for ATLEAST 15 seconds prior to curing. We have found that we had to wait up to 30 seconds to achieve a proper cure.

  2. Dr Samuel M Rappoport on September 14th, 2007 6:04 pm

    would like to see more on enamel loc

  3. DR.Tarek on September 20th, 2007 5:31 pm

    I have tried enamel Loc, but I had very bad exprience. So. may I try this way of keeping dry before to cure, but this way is time consuming. Thaks

  4. Gina Silvesti, RDH on November 15th, 2007 10:19 am

    When we first started using Enamel Loc I loved it because it was so quick and much easier for the young patient. But… we started seeing those patients back for recalls and most of the patients had lost the sealants! We have since switched back to Seal-Rite. I would be hesitant to try it againg, even waiting the longer 30 seconds before curing. It’s just too much of a inconvenience to the patient to bring them back if they need the sealants reapplied.

  5. Sarah Cox on November 27th, 2007 2:58 pm

    I have been using this sealant for over 6 months now and I am seeing some patients back for re-seals, must admit that perhaps I didnt wait long enough before curing but I am now going to do a review on all sealants that I am waiting for at least 15 secs on.

  6. denny byrne on December 13th, 2007 6:50 pm

    we have used this product for almost one year
    with frequent catastrophic failures on several pts
    at first we thought it was operator error , so we redid them but they often all failed again
    obviously lots of unhappy people

  7. Stephanie on March 8th, 2008 12:23 am

    We used enamel loc for a school based sealant program and had many failures. We followed all instruction to the letter. We definately waited the 15 second etch time if not longer. This is really difficult for our small grant program.

  8. Janice on March 23rd, 2008 9:52 pm

    Our office has been trying enamel Loc for about a year now. We love the idea of not having the extra step for the etching but were also finding that a lot of the sealants were coming off. We now cure for 30 seconds and are keeping a close eye on the returns for re-seals. It seems to be working better. We also check with the patients as to their diet which often times includes jolly ranchers, ice chewing etc that help lead to sealant failure. Still watching but we also have another sealant that some of the girls have gone back to.

  9. sue on April 30th, 2008 3:43 am

    Our office has just started using this product and we love it.
    We don’t know of any sealants coming off yet.
    Now, we have found out that you can NOT evenh get it anymore because it was taken off the market due to a temperture problem in the shipping.
    Can someone verify this? And if you can, do you know of any other resin sealant that does not require an etchant first?
    Thanks

  10. Dr. Joe on May 6th, 2008 6:04 am

    I have heard about the catastrophic failures from another office. Does not seem like this product works as well as it has been claimed to work. What other sealants are you using that work better?

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