{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,20]],"date-time":"2026-04-20T11:07:36Z","timestamp":1776683256453,"version":"3.51.2"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,18]],"date-time":"2026-04-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1776470400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR) at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah","award":["IPP: 711-165-2025"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["IPP: 711-165-2025"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Children"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Dental caries continues to represent a major oral health concern in children, particularly in uncooperative patients, where effective sealant placement is often compromised. This study evaluated the long-term clinical performance of hydrophilic (UltraSeal XT hydro) and hydrophobic (Helioseal-F) resin-based sealants in uncooperative children aged 6\u20139 years, assessing retention and caries incidence over 24 months. Methods: In a split-mouth, double-blinded randomized controlled trial, 34 children (104 first permanent molars) were enrolled, with 31 participants (98 teeth) completing the study. Sealants were randomly assigned to hydrophilic or hydrophobic group, with assessments at 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months. Results: Complete retention declined progressively in both groups, from 59.2% to 2.0% in the hydrophilic group and from 42.9% to 0% in the hydrophobic group at 24 months, with no significant intergroup differences (p = 0.719). Caries-free rates decreased from 81.6% to 49.0% in the hydrophilic group and from 75.5% to 40.8% in the hydrophobic group (p = 0.293). Children with definitely negative behavior showed significantly lower retention at 6 and 12 months (p = 0.006 and p &lt; 0.001) compared to those with negative behavior, although differences were not significant at 24 months. Conclusions: Overall, both sealants demonstrated comparable retention and cariostatic performance, indicating that material properties alone do not determine long-term success. Further research should focus on long-term follow-up and comparative evaluation of hydrophilic sealants in cooperative and uncooperative populations to better understand how patient behavior affects sealant performance.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/children13040565","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,20]],"date-time":"2026-04-20T09:37:42Z","timestamp":1776677862000},"page":"565","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Clinical Evaluation of Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic Resin-Based Sealants in Uncooperative Children: A 24-Month Randomized Controlled Trial"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5753-6442","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hussein A.","family":"Alharthy","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Dentistry Department, East Jeddah Hospital, Jeddah First Health Cluster, Jeddah 22233, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9919-0435","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Amani A.","family":"Al Tuwirqi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pediatric Dentistry Department, Faculty of Dentistry, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 22233, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alaa A.","family":"Nadhrin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pediatric Dentistry Department, Faculty of Dentistry, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 22233, Saudi Arabia"},{"name":"Department of Dental Public Health, Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences, King\u2019s College London, London WC2R 2LS, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1486-5828","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ala A.","family":"Aljubour","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dentistry Department, Ad Diriyah Hospital, Riyadh Third Health Cluster, Riyadh 11564, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Layla N.","family":"Khogeer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pediatric Dentistry Department, University Dental Hospital, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 22233, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Heba M.","family":"Elkhodary","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pedodontics and Oral Health, Faculty of Dental Medicine for Girls, Al Azhar University, Cairo 11651, Egypt"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Tadakamadla, S.K., and Tartaglia, G.M. 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