Downey Park Family Dentistry is excited to announce that our offices are reopen to serve our community. We are taking additional special measures to ensure the health and safety of our patients and team, and appreciate your understanding that things will look and function a bit differently in our office for the time being.
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A space maintainer is a stainless steel oral appliance that is placed in the mouth where there is a gap due to a prematurely lost tooth. As the name suggests, it maintains the space in your child’s mouth by holding open the gap, preventing the surrounding teeth from moving, and encouraging the proper eruption of the permanent tooth.
Has your child lost a baby tooth? Contact us at First Smiles Children's Dentistry today to schedule a consultation with Dr. Chris Ha. We can examine your child’s teeth and determine if a space maintainer is necessary and which one type is most appropriate.
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Space maintainers are made of durable materials such as stainless steel, plastic, or acrylic.
There are many different kinds of space maintainers that can be used depending on the specific teeth your child has lost and their position in the mouth. We would first choose between fixed or removable space maintainers.
Fixed is the most common option because young children tend to want to play with or remove their space maintainer if they can take it out. Removable space maintainers are not very common and are only used in older children who can comply with their treatment.
Then, we will decide if a unilateral or bilateral maintainer is necessary. Unilateral means a single tooth or multiple teeth are missing on one side of the mouth, while bilateral is used for teeth that are missing on both sides of the mouth.
The most common type of space maintainer is known as a band and loop which is used to maintain the space of a single missing tooth. A stainless steel band is placed around a tooth and a wire loop holds the space open. Alternatively, when a stainless steel crown needs to be placed around the abutment tooth, a crown and loop will be used.
Space maintainers can help prevent oral issues from forming later in your child’s life.
Sedation is most often used to treat dental anxiety and keep children at ease during their treatment. Fear of the dentist is very common, and sedation can keep your child calm during their appointments.
Additionally, sedation helps with pain and discomfort during more invasive procedures, such as tooth extractions. It also helps young patients feel more comfortable if they need to sit still for longer treatment times.
As long as your child is healthy and is not taking any medications that may interfere with the sedation, your child should be a good candidate for sedation dentistry. Contact us to learn more about sedation options for your child. We can discuss any concerns you may have during a consultation.
This depends on the method of sedation. With laughing gas, your child will feel light-headed, giggly, and relaxed, but will be fully conscious and aware of their surroundings. They will also feel less discomfort during treatment.
Oral conscious sedation and IV sedation will usually make patients feel groggy or sleepy. Your child will likely fall asleep, and probably won’t remember much about the procedure. However, they will not be unconscious, and can still be woken and respond to commands.
General anesthesia is the deepest level of sedation. Your child will be completely unconscious and will not feel anything or remember anything from the procedure.
When done correctly, sedation dentistry for children, even toddlers, is completely safe. Several precautions are taken to ensure a seamless experience. First, we’ll take a detailed health history to make sure we recommend the right sedation option. We’ll then discuss options with the parent or guardian so that you understand the effects and are prepared to care for your child after their procedure. All methods of sedation dentistry are provided by professional and skilled team members, so you rest assured that your child's well-being is of the utmost importance.
All the 20 baby teeth will fall out before your child becomes an adult.
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