Space Maintaining

The primary teeth are believed to be essential in a child’s growth and development process. These teeth are not only vitally important in chewing the food but also play an important role in the guidance and eruption of permanent teeth that are natural space maintainers. However, when a primary tooth is prematurely lost due to severe caries, or trauma, it can lead to the mesial movement of the remaining teeth and depletion of the arch length that can further result in malocclusion in the permanent dentition in the form of crossbite, crowding, over eruption, ectopic eruption, poor molar relationship, and excessive overbite and overjet.

What are Space Maintaining Appliances?

The well-being of children is the highest priority of parents. Therefore, to prevent and avoid the malfunctioning of teeth, a dental appliance called a space maintainer is used. Space Maintainers further decrease the probability for future orthodontic treatment and prevent children and adults from suffering from tooth loss.

Types of Space Maintaining Appliances

Mainly, there are two types of space maintaining appliances:

• Removable Space Maintainer, with the use of artificial teeth or plastic blocks the empty space is filled that needs to stay open. This type is usually used when the space looks too obvious to other people, it works well in adults or older children who are reliable enough to take care of the appliance.
• Fixed Space Maintainers are connected to the teeth on either side of the space in the child’s mouth.

However, there are several kinds of Fixes Space Maintainers that include:

• A band and Loop Maintainer, constructed of stainless-steel wire and held in place by a crown on the tooth next to the space or an orthodontic-type band around one of the teeth next to the open space. A wire loop is hooked up to the band or crown. It sticks out across space where the tooth is missing and just touches the tooth on the other side of the open space. The wire loop holds the space open. This allows the permanent tooth enough space to come into the mouth without crowding.
• ‘Lingual’ refers to the inside or tongue side of the teeth A lower wire known as a ‘lingual arch’ is used when back teeth are lost on both sides of the lower jaw. This type of space maintainer uses bands wrapped around a tooth on either side of the mouth behind the missing teeth. A wire connected to the bands runs along the inside of the bottom teeth, just touching them.
• A ‘distal shoe’ appliance is inserted under the gums and used when a child loses the baby tooth in front of a 6-year molar that has not yet come. The 6-year molar is also called the first permanent molar. A distal shoe appliance has a metal wire that is inserted slightly under the gum. This keeps the space from closing. This appliance must be checked often because the incoming tooth can become blocked by the wire.

What are the benefits of Space Maintaining Appliances?

The benefits of space maintaining appliances are many and their reliability is also well-known. However, the use of Space Maintaining Appliances have reportedly reduced the prevalence or severity of space loss in the primary or mixed dentition, reduced prevalence or severity of malocclusion in the permanent dentition measured as significant changes in crowding, ectopic eruption, impacted teeth, Angle’s class II or III occlusion, crossbite, deep overbite, deep overjet, or midline shift.

What do we offer at Saudi German Hospital?

At Saudi German Hospital, our appliances are custom-built in our laboratories by our well-trained and highly qualified medical technicians. To make a removable space maintainer, we take impressions from which the lab then makes the appliance, and you return for a fitting. Our team of competent dentists are our asset under the roof, they will not only provide your child with the best of treatment but will also give them an easy set of instructions on how to take care of their space maintainers.

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