Space maintainers are removable or fixed appliances made to prevent the loss of space that may occur due to premature loss of milk teeth or those that need to be extracted.
If your child's milk teeth are lost early due to decay or trauma; protecting the milk tooth extraction space with space maintainers is very important for your child to have an ideal set of teeth in the future.
In such cases, until the permanent teeth coming from below are ready and erupt, the adjacent teeth can bend and turn and cover the space that the lost milk tooth should protect for the permanent tooth. In fact, the tooth in the opposite jaw of the gap will start to grow. If development is left to its own devices after early milk tooth extraction, these movements will cause no space for the permanent tooth to come. Thus, the permanent tooth will either never erupt or will develop outside its normal place.
Some milk teeth should remain in the mouth until the age of 12. However, at this age, the permanent teeth are ready and the milk teeth change. It is very difficult for teeth that have come out as babies and have not been protected very carefully to come to this age without any problems. This small metal apparatus called a placeholder is specially prepared for the child's mouth and preserves this place until the permanent tooth comes in cases where the milk tooth is lost early. They are prepared as fixed or retractable (depending on the location of the lost tooth). It is a very simple but very important apparatus in terms of the foundation of the child's future oral and dental health.
Early Loss of Milk Teeth
Milk teeth play a very important role in your child's jaw and facial development. Children have 20 milk teeth and 20 permanent teeth that will grow in their place later. In addition to these, the 6-year-old teeth, 12-year-old teeth and wisdom teeth, which are the big molars, will be located in the jaw in addition to these 20 permanent teeth and 32 teeth will be completed. Milk teeth serve as natural placeholders until the permanent teeth grow. If milk teeth are lost early for any reason; Within 6 weeks, the other teeth will shift into this space and cover the space of the extracted milk tooth. This will prevent the permanent tooth that will erupt from the bottom from its ideal place. If the permanent tooth does not erupt from where it should, it can cause the teeth to become crooked and this can lead to orthodontic problems at an early age.
Space maintainers are custom appliances made of metal or plastic. After the dentist takes measurements, dental technicians prepare the space maintainer. It can be fixed or removable depending on the number or location of prematurely lost milk teeth. The ready space maintainer is applied to the patient's mouth by the dentist. A space maintainer is used until the permanent tooth comes from below.
Functions
It prevents the extraction space from being covered by other teeth and protects this space until the permanent tooth erupts, ensuring that the permanent tooth erupts in the ideal position and at the time it should.
It prevents orthodontic problems that may occur in the future.
It ensures that the teeth remain in the ideal position as it prevents crookedness and minimizes the risk of tooth decay in the interfaces, as well as a beautiful set of teeth.
Care and Protection
Avoid sticky foods and chewing gum.
Do not try to push or bend the space maintainer with your tongue or fingers. Children usually get used to space maintainers within a day or two and can use them without any problems.
Keep them clean by using regular brushing and flossing. Good oral hygiene also keeps the space maintainer clean. Brushing your teeth twice a day, morning and evening, ensures that the space maintainers remain effective in your mouth for a long time.
Be sure to go for a check-up every 6 months.
