Dental seals contain BPA, would you have them removed?

[amcal]

We had dental seals put on our kids teeth a couple years ago. I now find out those seals contained BPA.

Dentist says he can remove them but then, I worry about cavities. My kids have good oral hygiene but, so did I and, I have cavities in all my molars. And, the composite material that they fill the cavities with contains BPA.

So, I can't go back and make the choice not to have them sealed, so, I now have to decide if I should have the sealants removed. Which, runs the risk of cavities and then fillings which may contain BPA.

WWYD?
Edited by amcal - 3/9/11 at 6:41pm

[mama1803]

I personally wouldn't make a decision until I knew what risks there were to the removal process itself.   The sealants degrade over time--they don't last forever.  I do know that BPA is released as the sealants degrade, I'm just wondering about the dangers of the removal process itself with regards to the possible release of BPA all at once or possible damage to the teeth.  Has your dentist explained the process to you at all?

We ultimately decided against sealants for our ds because of the BPA issue.  There is one brand that is advertised as being BPA free, but the chemical reaction the sealants undergo as part of the natural degradation process does release a BPA-like substance.  So essentially the BPA free sealants aren't totally BPA free. 

Also, we are of the belief that nutrition plays a bigger role than hygiene in keeping teeth healthy.  If you are really concerned about cavities you could do some research into cell salts, high vitamin butter oil, xylitol.  There are lots of threads about people who have healed their cavities with dietary changes and have lots of advice on prevention as well.

[tanyalynn]

I'd just let it wear off naturally and focus on folate and B12 to help support methylation (diet or supps or both, depending on your overall health picture... but I'd use supps with real folate, not folic acid, if you decide those would be helpful).  Attaching a methyl group is a significant way that our bodies get rid of BPA (and lots of other nasty enviro exposures, the weird chemicals with long names that are so many places), and folate and B12 are two key nutrients involved in the methylation cycle, so I'd focus on more nutrients and reducing other exposures, both of which will have good long-term effects.