What Is A Space Maintainer?

Understanding The Basics

A space maintainer is exactly what it sounds like! These dental prostheses are made of metal or plastic. If your child loses a baby tooth prematurely, one of these devices may be placed in the gap between your child’s teeth to prevent the teeth from moving over time.

Space maintainers are necessary because the baby teeth create the “paths” that your child’s adult teeth follow when they erupt. If they lose a baby tooth early (a tooth is knocked out while playing or participating in sports, for example), this can impact their oral development. Their adult teeth may not erupt properly.

By maintaining the proper amount of space between your child’s teeth, a space maintainer ensures they do not have any serious issues as their adult teeth begin to erupt.

The Benefits Of Space Maintainers

Preserve Your Child’s Mouth

Prevent oral development complications

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and this is particularly true of space maintainers. Placing a space maintainer when your child loses a tooth can prevent serious orthodontic complications, which may require first-phase orthodontics and surgery to resolve as your child grows.

Save time & money

With space maintainers, there’s a much lower chance that your child will need orthodontic treatment. This saves you quite a bit of time and money, especially since space maintainer treatment is very affordable, and is usually covered by dental insurance for children under the age of 16.

Pain-free treatment

If you’re worried that your child may need major surgery or a numbing shot to get a space maintainer, don’t stress! The procedure is non-invasive and pain-free. Dr. Richard will simply attach a small, comfortable metal or plastic device between your child’s teeth. Your child won’t experience any discomfort.


What Will Happen

If My Child Doesn’t Get A Space Maintainer?

This depends on which tooth your child has lost, and how soon their permanent tooth will erupt. If your child’s permanent tooth is very close to erupting, then there may be no need to get a space maintainer. Their tooth will probably erupt with no complications.

However, if your child loses a tooth early and their permanent tooth is not close to erupting, it’s likely that the surrounding teeth will shift toward the now-empty tooth socket over time. This can cause problems when your child’s adult tooth erupts.

Space maintainers are not always necessary when your child loses a baby tooth, but it’s better to be safe than sorry, so it’s a good idea to schedule an appointment at Milpitas Children’s Dental if your child loses a baby tooth early.

Dr. Richard can examine your child’s mouth, determine if they’ve lost their tooth early, and place a space maintainer if necessary. This protects your child’s mouth and ensures they don’t have any serious oral development issues in the future.

Why It’s Important to Clean Your Child’s Space Maintainers

Understanding Cleanliness Practices

Because space maintainers are a fixed appliance that is not removable, food particles can become trapped between the space maintainers and contribute to a buildup of plaque and tartar which lead to cavities.

If left untreated, this could lead to the beginning stages of gum disease. The only way to remove plaque and tartar once it has accumulated is through a professional dental cleaning, where Dr. Richard will use a scaler to scrape it off.

Proper Oral Hygiene

How Do I Clean My Child’s Space Maintainers?

This depends on which tooth your child has lost, and how soon their permanent tooth Your child should brush their teeth twice a day for at least two minutes and floss once a day. They should also ensure that they brush around the crevices of the appliance to remove plaque. We recommend using an electric toothbrush, which is more effective at removing plaque from these appliances.

Your child should thoroughly clean around the space maintainer’s wires, bands, and any other pockets that can trap food. Be careful when cleaning the appliance and check that no damage has been done to the space maintainers. You will need to brush your child’s teeth and space maintainers for them until they are old enough to do it on their own.

If they can brush their own teeth, you should still monitor them to ensure that they are doing it properly and working into all of the crevices that can harbor food particles. Since wearing orthodontic appliances increases the risk of trapping food and bacteria, your child should swish around fluoride mouthwash in their mouth for a minute after brushing and flossing.

When it comes to flossing, your child may need to use a Waterpik, which uses high-pressurized water to floss in between the teeth instead of flossing string which can get stuck within the appliance.

will erupt. If your child’s permanent tooth is very close to erupting, then there may be no need to get a space maintainer. Their tooth will probably erupt with no complications.

However, if your child loses a tooth early and their permanent tooth is not close to erupting, it’s likely that the surrounding teeth will shift toward the now-empty tooth socket over time. This can cause problems when your child’s adult tooth erupts.

Space maintainers are not always necessary when your child loses a baby tooth, but it’s better to be safe than sorry, so it’s a good idea to schedule an appointment at Milpitas Children’s Dental if your child loses a baby tooth early.

Dr. Richard can examine your child’s mouth, determine if they’ve lost their tooth early, and place a space maintainer if necessary. This protects your child’s mouth and ensures they don’t have any serious oral development issues in the future.

An Estimate For Permanent Teeth Growth

How Long Does My Child Need to Wear Space Maintainers?

The specific amount of time your child will need to wear space maintainers is highly variable because a child’s permanent teeth come in at their own pace. This means that the estimated time your child will need to wear space maintainers ranges from months to a few years.

How long it takes for the permanent teeth to come in also depends on which teeth were lost and when they are expected to come in. While kids’ permanent teeth begin coming in at 6 years old, some teeth aren’t expected to grow in until closer to 12-14.

If your child has lost baby teeth in this space and they are quite young, they may need to wear space maintainers for several years. However, once you notice this tooth erupting through the gum, it is typically advisable to remove the space maintainer at this point. This is a sign that your permanent tooth is ready to come through very soon.

Why Space Maintainers Are Important

Understanding their Function

Baby teeth are important not only for their temporary function of chewing and smiling while you still have them. They’re also important for holding space in your gums for your permanent teeth to grow into.
When these teeth are lost prematurely due to injury, damage, or disease, the space needs to be filled right away or your teeth could shift. When there is a gap in the teeth, the surrounding teeth attempt to fill the space, which can cause crooked and overcrowded teeth.

Another issue is that as a result of these teeth shifting and overcrowding, there wouldn’t be any space left for your permanent tooth to grow into. This is the purpose of space maintainers. They prevent your teeth from shifting and creating orthodontic issues like overcrowding or crooked teeth as well as holding the space for your permanent tooth.
At Milpitas Children’s Dental, we place space maintainers in your child’s mouth with expert precision and ensure that they stay clean and keep your child’s teeth healthy. Contact us or schedule a consultation today if your little one has lost their baby teeth and needs to fill the gap.