A space maintainer is an oral appliance that is placed around a tooth to hold a space open in the mouth where a tooth is missing. Tooth loss in children may seem like no big deal when it’s a baby tooth but just because these teeth are supposed to fall out naturally doesn’t mean that it doesn’t matter when or how this happens.
At Miles of Little Smiles, our White Plains pediatric dentists, Dr. Dikla Chazbani (Dr. Dee) and Dr. Maia Levy (Dr. Maia), provide custom space maintainers to ensure your child’s permanent teeth erupt properly — helping to prevent long-term orthodontic issues.
Call us today at (914) 949-6655 to schedule your child’s consultation.
Will my child need a space maintainer?
This depends on what type of tooth was lost and when it was lost. Space maintainers are used when primary teeth are lost prematurely. Even though primary teeth are supposed to fall out on their own anyway, they must do so on an appropriate schedule.
Sometimes children lose a tooth too soon because of tooth decay or dental trauma. The problem here is that this tooth serves an important purpose – to maintain space in the mouth for the eventual eruption of the permanent tooth.
Without a space maintainer, the surrounding teeth will shift and lean into the space where the tooth used to be. This can cause orthodontic issues and worst of all, block the eruption of the permanent tooth.
A space maintainer is a stainless steel oral appliance that holds the space of the extracted tooth so an adult successor tooth has space to erupt in the future.
Then, it’s removed when the permanent tooth is due to erupt.
If your child needs a space maintainer in White Plains, contact us at Miles of Little Smiles today to schedule a consultation with one of our White Plains dentists.
Our Space Maintainer Process: What to Expect
Consultation – During your consultation, Dr. Dee or Dr. Mila will examine your child’s teeth and take x-rays to check on the position of the teeth beneath the gums and how close they are to erupting. A space maintainer is not needed if a permanent tooth will erupt very soon.
Checkups – We will periodically check on your child’s space maintainer to ensure that it’s still fitting properly and to check on the development of the permanent tooth.
Removal – When it’s time for the permanent tooth to come through or is showing signs of eruption, the space maintainer will be removed.
Benefits of Space Maintainers for Kids
- Maintain proper arch development
- Prevent orthodontic problems
- Painless and minimally invasive
- Quick and simple placement and removal
- Come in fixed or removable options
- Prevent space loss from shifting teeth
How long do Space Maintainers last?
Space maintainers are made of very strong and durable materials so they will last until the permanent tooth is ready to erupt, at which point it’s time to remove it. Space maintainers are not permanent, they’re just a temporary solution to the problem of a missing tooth in the mouth. Once your permanent tooth is ready to erupt through the gums, you no longer have any need for it to maintain the space in your mouth because your natural tooth will do that.
Contact us by calling (914) 949-6655 today to schedule a consultation with our doctors.
