Testing of pit and fissure sealants in the monkey

A pilot study was conducted employing the Macaca speciosa monkey to determine the retention and sealing ability of pit and fissure sealants in vivo. Several problems were encountered in the use of this animal model for this type of evaluation. Without doubt, the conditions to which the sealants were subjected in the monkey were more rigorous than those found in man. This is attested to by the lower rate of retention of sealants as compared to that found in studies on human beings. To increase the usefulness of animal studies of this type, additional research should be done to better establish the correlation between the behavior of sealants in the animal and in man. Nevertheless, certain pertinent observations were made, one of which is that in some instances where the sealant was retained on the teeth, the sealant-tooth interface was readily penetrated by an isotope solution.