Index scans while using PreparedStatements

I have a query that does a 3-table join. The tables involved
are
1. ct_list_item(li_key int, li_code nvarchar(329))
li_key is the primary key
2. ct_list_item_lang(li_key int, lang_code varchar(5),
value nvarchar(64))
li_key and lang_code form a 2-part primary key.
3. ct_list_item_map(list_key int, li_key int, list_level int)
list_key and li_key form a 2-part primary key.
All of these tables have clustered indexes on their primary
keys.
Here's the query:
SELECT map.list_key, map.li_key, lil.value, li.li_code
FROM ct_list_item li
JOIN ct_list_item_map map on map.li_key = li.li_key
JOIN ct_list_item_lang lil on li.li_key = lil.li_key and
lil.lang_code='en'
WHERE map.list_key= 1011
I am finding that when I run the query using a JDBC
PreparedStatement with bind variables (on lang_code and
list_key), the query performs an index scan over the
clustered index on the ct_list_item_lang's primary key.
However if I run the query using a JDBC Statement without
bind variables, it does an clustered index seek. I am
puzzled as to why there is a difference.
Since we hard code values in the query statement, the SQL knows the values
before hand and can use Index seek. For
preparedstatement using parameters SQL has no knowledge about the value for
each
parameter during the preparation hence Index Scan is used. This results in
Preparedstatement running slower than regular Statement with hard coded
query.
If you need to use parameterized query in code, in stead of using ad hoc
query, you can create a stored proc and call it from Java code. This
should generate a plan using Index Seek which results in better performance.
sql