Band & Loop Appliance

Service Description

When a child patient who has prematurely lost a primary molar or several primary molars is examined, the first step taken to establish the need for space maintenance is to determine the presence or absence of the successional tooth. Once the presence of the permanent tooth has been established, measurements should be taken to determine the space necessary or available for the successional tooth. If the patient has only a primary dentition, then no measurements are necessary. If the child is over eight years old and permanent incisors are present, a mixed dentition analysis should be completed as part of the diagnosis for space maintenance. This analysis will indicate the adequacy of the dentition to accommodate all the successional teeth. This is extremely important, for it is discouraging for the clinician to maintain space if the space available is inadequate in the first place. The parents of children usually expect their child to have straight teeth if space maintainers are utilized. The dentist must also determine at this time whether the patient has an existing malocclusion that may require orthodontic treatment in the future. That is, the dentist should consider as to whether the space he/she decides to maintain may necessarily have to be closed subsequent to future orthodontic extractions. Both of these considerations will become extremely relevant in the nine to eleven year-old child age group, when arch length availability is critical.