Retention of sealants placed by dental technicians without assistance.

The retention rate of sealants placed by dental auxiliaries has not been studied extensively. This study recorded and compiled the retention rate of sealants placed by Air Force dental technicians over a two-year period. The technicians, who were equivalent to dental assistants, were trained to place the sealants without assistance using the Vac-Ejector (Whaledent International, New York, NY) system for isolation. Five hundred and ninety-nine sealants on 90 patients were evaluated an average of 13.9 months after sealant placement. The overall complete retention rate was 91.0%, with a partial loss rate of 7.0%, and a complete loss rate of 2.0%. These results suggest that pit and fissure sealants can be placed in this cost-effective manner with a relatively high retention rate.