Should I caulk the back of a shower valve escutcheon?

Hi, I did some work, and am putting the escutcheon back for my shower valve (single handle PP). The foam gasket was damaged, and I am contemplating using caulk in it's place.

This is going on a tiled wall, which is of an uneven plane (grout lines, and tile not perfectly set).

Would it make sense to apply some silicone caulk as in this image:



Any suggestions as to procedure or technique would be appreciated (especially in keeping the caulk from making a big mess like it seems happens to me).

Thanks!

No, don't put any on the back side push the escutcheon up tight against the tile and caulk from the 8PM position across the top to the 4PM position and leave it at that.

That works for me too.

If you stick the back side with Silicone, you will never get it off again.
Install the plate first, then caulk.
And not at the bottom.
Some plates even come with a notch on the bottom to let water out.

Usually that plate has to be removed on PP faucets to repair them. Therefore, only run a bead of caulk around the upper portion where water would hit it and could get behind the plate. Water cannot flow uphill so the bottom does not need to be sealed.

You could also just buy a roll of closed cell foam weatherstripping and replace the factory stuff and forget the caulk altogether.

THanks guys, I'll go ahead and caulk on the top of the outside. Much appreciated!