Space Maintenance in the Mixed Dentition – a Necessary Intervention or a Step Too Far?

Management of the paediatric patient presents multiple challenges for the clinician, not just with regard to patient management and compliance, but also in managing a dynamic and changing dentition. Primary teeth serve a purpose to provide aesthetics and function, whilst also maintaining arch length and space for their permanent successors. Premature loss of primary teeth can occur for a number of reasons, such as extractions due to dental caries, trauma, hypomineralization and for orthodontic treatment.^{1, 2, 3, 4, 5} Unplanned, early loss of primary teeth can result in unwanted migration of permanent teeth into the space, causing loss of arch length, crowding, displacement of teeth and therefore malocclusion. These deleterious effects increase the likelihood of future orthodontic intervention.⁶ Dental practitioners can take measurable steps to retain space in the mixed dentition to ameliorate potential unwanted effects in the permanent dentition.