Why should kids wear space maintainers after premature tooth loss?

A child’s entire set of baby teeth would erupt around the age of three. The baby teeth, also known as primary teeth, act as placeholders for the permanent ones (also known as adult ones). Everyone knows that the baby teeth have to fall out to make place for the adult teeth to erupt. The permanent teeth begin to erupt between the ages of 6 and 7 years. Some kids encounter tooth loss due to infection or injury before this age range.

In those circumstances, you should make your child wear dental space maintainers to preserve the gap. Otherwise, such premature baby tooth loss is an instigating element for problems like ectopic eruption, crowding, speech distortion, etc.

What is the purpose of dental space maintainers?

A dental space maintainer is a custom-made orthodontic appliance made of acrylic or metal. The space maintainer prevents teeth from erupting in the gap left by the prematurely lost teeth. It implies that the device takes care of keeping the region open until the adult teeth start to appear.

For instance, if a child loses a molar tooth prematurely and the space is not maintained correctly, the adjacent molar teeth start to move.

It will affect the space for other teeth. This prompts the molar teeth to drift forward, followed by upsetting the eruption of the bicuspid and canines. In such cases, the bicuspid teeth start to move forward and obstruct the space for canine teeth. So canine teeth also will erupt in improper alignment. Overall, the permanent teeth eruption will affect the child’s appearance.

Wearing a space maintainer is the best way to prevent such disastrous consequences. As this appliance preserves space, loosening the neighboring teeth is also prevented. This ensures the permanent teeth erupt and grow with proper tooth-to-tooth contact and correct alignment.

Depending on the location of the missing tooth, your dentist would prescribe the correct type of space maintainers.

What are the different types of space maintainers available?

The dental space maintainers are primarily classified into 3 types:

• Fixed unilateral space maintainers
• Fixed bilateral space maintainers
• Removable space maintainers

1) Removable space maintainers

As the name suggests, this appliance can be removed whenever the patient wants. They are made up of acrylic and guarantee long-term effectiveness. Dentists sometimes utilize crowns and braces to protect the space for unerupted permanent teeth. The removable space maintainer is also similar to this practice.

2) Fixed unilateral space maintainers

The fixed space maintainers are cemented onto the nearby tooth of the space left by a missing tooth. It cannot be removed without a dentist’s support. The fixed unilateral appliances intend to maintain space on one side of the mouth. It is further categorized into 2 types, namely.

• Band and Loop space maintainer – It consists of a band to cement the appliance to the molar teeth. Likely, it contains a loop that connects the distal surface of the canine teeth. The conjunction of band and loop would protect the missing tooth’s space.
• Distal shoe space maintainer – It includes a stainless steel wire that is extended into the gums to prevent the space from closing. In most cases, it is prescribed to maintain the gap for unerupted first permanent molar teeth.

3) Fixed bilateral space maintainers

Dentists recommend fixed bilateral appliances when a kid encounters premature tooth loss on both sides of the mouth. It is further classified into 3 types as follows:

• Transpalatal arch
• Lingual holding arch
• Nance Arch

Generally, pediatric dentists recommend the appropriate kind of bilateral space maintainer after assessing the location of missing teeth.

Bottom line

When a kid’s milk tooth falls out accidentally, or due to infection, it creates a gap that has to be filled naturally with permanent tooth eruption.

If the space is not maintained correctly, the neighboring teeth start to loosen. Consequently, the room in the jaw bone for the eruption of adult teeth then collapses. It leads to problems like misaligned teeth and jaw. Hence getting dental space maintainers is crucial to prevent such problems when your little champ steps into adulthood.