In the Know for You to Know

Baby teeth play a vital role in your child’s dental health. They allow them to eat the healthy foods that help their bodies to grow and thrive, they’re essential to speech development, and they hold space for their adult teeth to grow into.

However, there are times when baby teeth don’t last as long as we’d all like them to; which is why a space maintainer is needed.

The purpose of a space maintainer is to hold the space of the missing tooth. It helps to ensure that the permanent tooth has the necessary space to come into when it’s time and hopefully limits the need for orthodontic treatment in the future.

Understanding why a space maintainer is important for your child’s needs is one thing. Knowing what to do you do once your child’s space maintainer is placed in their mouth is entirely different.

So, What do you do? How will they adjust to their space maintainer? How do you properly maintain it everyday? Let’s get started together.

Adjusting To A Space Maintainer

Just like their new sneakers, adjusting to having a space maintainer in their mouth can be tough for children, and parents also.

I’ve put together these 5 tips to help your child get used to their new space maintainer:

1. Be encouraging and supportive – Now that your child has a space maintainer it becomes part of your normal everyday. And, if you had one yourself, explain to your child how normal it is, and how your smile benefitted from having a space maintainer.
2. Practice smiling and talking – At first, your child’s space maintainer can feel strange in their mouth. This can cause them to speak or smile a little differently until they get used to it. To help, we recommend they practice smiling and talking in front of a mirror. This way, they can see that their new space maintainer isn’t visible, and only shows if they want it to. You can also have your child get used to talking by reading a story out loud to you, to their younger siblings or cousins. The more they practice talking, the more their tongue will become accustomed to their new space maintainer.
3. Start with soft foods – The first few days after getting a space maintainer can be rough. Your child may feel their mouth is “different.” This is totally normal. To help make meals easier, start with soft and easy to chew foods for the first few days. Soup or broth, mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs, pasta, oatmeal, applesauce, yogurt, or smoothies gives them nourishment and provides comfort. As your child gets more used to and comfortable with their space maintainer, you can begin to add back in their regular favorite foods.
4. Keep their space maintainer clean – It is important to keep your child’s space maintainer clean. This is an absolute. While the appliance looks smooth, there are areas within and around it where food particles and plaque easily get trapped, which leads to irritated red gums and cavities. Use a soft bristle tooth brush to brush around the band and wire. It’s also important to floss for them and especially around the band and wire. It’s also a good idea to brush after every meal. There are also some things to avoid such as gooey and sticky foods and candies like taffy, caramel, hard candies, and chewing gum. These are best to avoid so that their space maintainer isn’t pulled off.
5. Schedule follow up visits – It’s important to have routine monitoring for their space maintainer with their dentist. Regular follow up allows your dentist to monitor the fit as well as the growth of their adult teeth into their mouth.

How To Take Care Of Your Child’s Space Maintainer

Caring for your child’s dental space maintainer becomes part of their daily oral hygiene routine, with your help:

• Remind your child not to touch or play with the band and wire of the space maintainer with their fingers or their tongue. You don’t want it to become loose, come out or break.
• Sticky, chewy and crunchy foods and carbonated beverages can cause the space maintainer to become loose or break. It’s best to avoid fruit snacks, chewing gum, lollipops, taffy, caramel, hard candies, popcorn, ice, juice and soda.
• The space maintainer needs to be cared for the same as your child’s teeth, with proper brushing twice per day and regular daily flossing. Their gums around a space maintainer can become red and irritated if it is not cleaned well. A sign that you’re doing a good job is that the metal sparkles and is shiny!
• At your child’s regular dental visit your dentist will check the fit, stability and integrity of the space maintainer.
• When the time is right, their dentist will remove the space maintainer to allow the permanent tooth to come into their mouth.

It’s extremely important that if at any time the space maintainer becomes loose, breaks, comes off or causes discomfort you need to call your child’s dentists office immediately so that they can check everything out.

What To Remember

A dental space maintainer is used to preserve the space of a missing tooth. When a child premature loses a baby tooth it causes serious problems. With the space left open, the surrounding teeth move into that opening which leaves little or no room for the permanent tooth to come into their mouth.

To prevent this from happening, a space maintainer is placed in their mouth, to hold the space open until the permanent tooth comes in.

Yes, this takes time to get used to and to incorporate into your child’s daily oral hygiene routine. With patience and guidance the transition can be a smooth one.

Has your dentist told you that your child needs a space maintainer? Does your child have a space maintainer in their mouth now? How did they get used to it? Did you have a space maintainer when you were a child? What’s been your experience? Tell us, We’d really like to know! Send us an email at kidstoothhotline@proton.me Like Us on Facebook

More tips? We have lots. We’re here just for kids!