If a baby tooth is lost early due to extraction or early removal by the child, the space for the adult successor can close up! Often, the adjacent teeth tip into the spot. This isn’t good because the adult tooth trying to come through no longer can. It often gets stuck or ‘impacted’. An impacted tooth is very difficult to fix up and often requires surgery along with braces.
Therefore, if a baby tooth is lost early it is important to consider a space maintainer.
A space maintainer is a little metal loop that holds the space of a missing baby tooth.
The most commonly used space maintainer is a band and loop space maintainer if one baby tooth is lost. If two or more baby teeth are lost, a lower lingual holding arch is best.
If your child has lost a baby tooth early do book in for a FREE assessment to check if a space maintainer is needed!