What Parents Need to Know about Space Maintainers for Primary Teeth

Most of the time, caring for teeth is a relatively simple process. You teach your child to brush, floss, and rinse with mouthwash, and help them until they’re ready to do it themselves. You take them to their regular dental cleanings, and that pretty much covers the basics. Sometimes, however, things don’t quite go the way they’re expected to. In some cases, spacers may be necessary for the primary teeth.

What Are Space Maintainers?

Space maintainers do pretty much exactly what the name makes it sound like. They maintain space for teeth. Permanent teeth need to have space to grow in. Normally that space is held by the primary teeth. If the primary teeth are lost too early for any reason, though, other teeth may move around and crowd the space where the permanent teeth need to grow in. That’s a problem, one that space maintainers solve.

How Do They Work?

So how do they actually maintain the space? There are multiple types of space maintainers. They fall into one of two categories: fixed and removable. They can be made from either metal or acrylic. Fixed space maintainers include band and loop, distal shoe, lingual, and unilateral space maintainers. All of them maintain the open space so the permanent tooth can grow unhindered. They do this by keeping the teeth around the gap stationary so they are unable to move in and fill the space.

How Long Will My Child Have Them?

As a general rule, the space maintainer needs to stay in until the permanent tooth grows in. If your child has a metal spring-type of maintainer, it will need to be removed by our Maccaro Smiles dental and orthodontic professionals as the permanent tooth grows in. Acrylic space maintainers get pushed out as the new tooth grows in, so those won’t need professional help. Make sure you keep up with dental and orthodontic appointments so we can monitor your child’s progress and make sure everything is going smoothly.

It’s hard to overstate how important it is for teeth to be kept healthy, to have the right spacing, and for their alignment to be correct. These things are crucial to keeping the teeth healthy for life, preventing decay, and making it easy to eat a delicious, nutritious diet, which is important to overall health. See how important tooth health is? It all starts with making sure the primary teeth are taken care of and protected.

Looking for a new dentist or orthodontist? Schedule your first visit with us here at Maccaro Smiles Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry. Our dental professionals will have you and your child smiling in no time.