189 - Comparison of Sealant Failure Rate Among Operators at RSDM Pediatric Dental Clinic

Purpose: The aim of this retrospective study is to compare the failure rate of sealants placed by third- and fourth-year dental students to those placed by first- and second-year pediatric dental residents.

Methods: Study participants were patients between the ages of 5 and 13 years who had sealants placed on their permanent first molars in the Rutgers Pediatric Dental Clinic between July 2014 and June 2016. Teeth included in the study had to be followed for a minimum of 5 years (recall visits) or until occlusal caries developed. Sealant failure was determined by placement of an occlusal restoration.
A pilot study of 200 stratified random samples was conducted, with 50 teeth included for each of the 4 treatment (operator type) groups: 1) third-year dental students, 2) fourth-year dental students, 3) first-year residents, 4) second-year residents. Failure rates were calculated for each class of operator. Average time to failure was determined by survival analysis and Cox regression was used to determine if operator type was a predictor for time to failure. SPSS was used for data analysis and the significance level was set at P<0.05.

Results: Fifty-seven of the 200 teeth sealed had an occlusal restoration placed and were classified as sealant failures. No significant differences were observed for failure rate or time to failure among the four different operator groups in the study.

Conclusions: In this pilot study, operator type was not a significant predictor for sealant failure or time to failure. Further investigation with a larger sample size is warranted.