Why do I need to wear a space maintainer if my deciduous teeth are lost prematurely?

In clinical practice, many children's deciduous teeth are extracted prematurely for various reasons. Some parents believe that even if the deciduous teeth are extracted prematurely, they only need to wait for the permanent teeth to erupt. In fact, if some deciduous teeth such as deciduous molars are lost prematurely, the subsequent permanent teeth cannot erupt in the short term. At this time, a space maintainer needs to be placed at the missing tooth to maintain the space and help the subsequent permanent teeth erupt smoothly.

What is a space maintainer?

A space maintainer is a device that is made after a child's deciduous teeth are lost prematurely to prevent adjacent teeth from tilting toward the lost area and the opposing teeth from elongating, allowing the successor permanent teeth to erupt normally.

There are many types of space maintainers. Space maintainers of different shapes and functions are designed according to the number and position of missing teeth and the development of subsequent permanent teeth. They mainly include wire coil space maintainers, partial denture space maintainers and fixed lingual arch space maintainers, etc.

The wire coil type space maintainer is more commonly used in clinical practice. This type of retainer is suitable for the situation where a single deciduous molar is missing.

Why wear a space maintainer?

When the deciduous molars are lost prematurely, the subsequent permanent teeth usually erupt at the age of 9-12. If the space is not maintained in time, the teeth on both sides will shift to the gap and the opposing teeth will elongate, causing partial or even complete loss of the gap, so that the subsequent permanent teeth can no longer erupt in the normal position, resulting in crowded teeth, disordered occlusion and other problems.

Therefore, when one or more deciduous teeth are lost prematurely, and the subsequent permanent tooth germ exists and has erupted more than 6 months ago, space maintenance is recommended.

Of course, space maintainers are different from adult restorations. They are suitable for growing children, which requires them to pay attention to oral hygiene and come to the hospital for regular checkups every 3-4 months. Therefore, after premature loss of deciduous teeth, remember to come to the hospital in time to see if a space maintainer is needed, so as to reduce the occurrence of unnecessary malocclusion.

About the Author

Huang Yi, a dentist at Beijing Children's Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University, graduated from West China School of Stomatology, Sichuan University with a master's degree. He is mainly engaged in early correction of children and adolescents and fixed and invisible correction of various malocclusions in the deciduous teeth, replacement teeth and early permanent teeth.