Enamel Loc Self-Etching Sealant: Is it Reliable?

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

  • Patrice Barber, DDS September 13th, 2007

    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.

  • Dr Samuel M Rappoport September 14th, 2007

    would like to see more on enamel loc

  • DR.Tarek September 20th, 2007

    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

  • Gina Silvesti, RDH November 15th, 2007

    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.

  • Sarah Cox November 27th, 2007

    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.

  • denny byrne December 13th, 2007

    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

  • Stephanie March 8th, 2008

    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.

  • Janice March 23rd, 2008

    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.

  • sue April 30th, 2008

    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

  • Dr. Joe May 6th, 2008

    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?

  • Stephanie May 14th, 2008

    The rep from Premier told us they took the product off the market. I am not aware of any other product that does not require etchant first. After this experience I do not think I would try another product that did not require etch. We went back to the sealants that Paterson dental sells under their name. Old, reliable, inexpensive material!

  • William Titus, DMD May 27th, 2008

    Thank goodness Premier got this stuff off the market! Without fail, recall patients were missing sealants done with this material just six months prior. We had followed the instruction EXACTLY because I was a little nervous about this product. We used pointed prophy brushes to clean the occlusal surfaces, used non-fluoride pumice paste and waited well in excess or 15 seconds (most often 30). Our failure rate on this product has to be near 80 or 90% over just 6 months!!! Conventional sealants show no such problems. The product was a great idea, but certainly needs to return to the drawing board.

  • Brad Barnes July 22nd, 2008

    Zenith Dental has a great pit and fissure sealant called EcuSeal.
    You do have to etch with this product but can be confident in its effectiveness.
    EcuSeal was Reality Choice in 02 and 03.
    They even have a great delivery system in the EcuPen for precise and controlled placement of etch and sealant.
    Great Product!

  • Beth Iskra, RDH, BS August 15th, 2008

    My boss loves the Enamel Loc, based on her use of it in a mobile program. But we use Adper PromptPop before the EnamelLoc still I think….at least the last time I did sealants, I did. And then still wait the 15 secs before curing.

    I’ve had good results with Ultradent’s UltraSeal XT Plus, but got into Pulpdent’s Embrace (as it is advertised to seal even in the presence of moisture). With both of these products, I still use PromptPop first though…so you can say I’m etching….but there is no rinsing involved, which helps to maintain a dryer field.

  • pam September 4th, 2008

    I was not aware that Premier has taken this product off the market. Please comment as to it’s truth.

  • Jean RDH September 17th, 2008

    We had a 99% failure rate with Enamel Loc. We spent an inordinant amout of time replacing sealants that were done 6 months ago. Very frustrating. Our Patterson rep was kind enough to let us return the product for credit. Techinque was not the problem, poor product was the problem.

  • Beth September 19th, 2008

    OK, I retract my last statement…or part of it. After reviewing with my boss, she has seen the same high failure rate & is no longer a fan of Enameloc. And yes, I understand it has been pulled off the market.

    Nice idea, needs work though I guess!

  • Mary Kelly-Johnson, RDH November 3rd, 2008

    Disappointing results after 9 months of use-seeing most if not all patients back with sealants no longer intact. Product easy to apply-but worthless if retention rate is non existant. Our office will be returning unused product for refund.

  • judy December 3rd, 2008

    We’ve been using AURAVue by Denali Corporation. It’s about a year on the market and also claimed use in a moist field. We picked it up from a dental show. It works really well! They also recommended etching and I guess the problems with Enameloc has proven this….anyway, we love it. You have to order direct from the company. I suggest you give it a try…

  • Asli Topaloglu Ak March 31st, 2009

    As a researcher, I have conducted two studies on Enamel Loc and found out that its retention rate is far below than expected. By the end of study, it was already announced that,this was discontinued by the manufacturer.

  • Ben RDH January 28th, 2010

    I also checked the research and used this product. It’s simple inferior. Even if you let it set and cure extra time, pt’s still return without them way to often. Easy-way-out is the only sales positive. Garbage in my book.

  • Mark March 10th, 2010

    Worst Sealant Material I have ever used. 99.9% failure rate…..

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