Space maintainers help “hold space” for permanent teeth.
If your child has prematurely lost a tooth, we may recommend a space-maintainer which is a combination of bands and wires designed to hold the remaining teeth in their correct position.
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Baby teeth are the most organic way to maintain space for the much larger permanent teeth.
However, when they are lost early (due to decay, for example), we often need to place space maintainers to hold that space for the permanent successor teeth, and to keep neighboring teeth from invading the space.
They can be fixed or removable, depending on the age of the patient and the location of the space maintenance problem.
Commonly used fixed-space maintainers include the holding lingual arch, the trans-palatal bar, the distal shoe, and the band and loop.
The space maintainer may feel unusual at first. But after a few days, your child probably will forget about it.
A removable space maintainer with replacement teeth can affect speech until your child gets used to it.
It’s important for your child to brush regularly to keep the gum tissue healthy. A child with a fixed space maintainer needs to avoid hard or sticky foods and chewy candy and gum.
They can loosen the band or get caught in the wire arm. If the space maintainer comes loose, there is a risk of swallowing or inhaling it into the lung.
Finally, your child shouldn’t push on the maintainer with his or her tongue or fingers. That could bend or loosen it.
The child’s dentist will take X-rays regularly to follow the progress of the incoming permanent.
When the tooth is ready to erupt, the maintainer is removed.
If a permanent tooth is missing, the space maintainer will be used until your child’s growth is completed (age 16 to 18).
Then a dentist will place a bridge, implant or removable partial denture in the space.
If your child has lost some baby teeth or there were some that never grew in at all, don’t procrastinate. Contact us or schedule an appointment online.
We are committed to comfortable, personalized and affordable dentistry for all. We make it a point to keep up with ever-changing technology, in order to provide the very best in modern dental care.
