Mantenedores de Espaço em Odontopediatria

Valéria Silva Andrade; Pammalla Ribeiro da Conceição Ferreira.

Abstract

Although space loss is a common situation in children and adolescents, there are different occlusal and orthodontic situations that occur concomitantly with space loss. For this reason, the present study aimed to discuss space maintainers in pediatric dentistry. Thus, the types of space maintainers, their functionality, the cases that can and should be applied, and especially the effects/consequences, were discussed. In the methodology, a literature integrative review was carried out based on the periodical databases, PubMed, Google Scholar and Scielo, whose time frame was between the years 2017 to 2021. In the results, space maintainers in pediatric patients prove their importance, because they avoid specific problems, such as future malocclusion, for example; have numerous advantages, including their great cost-benefit, due to the simplicity of the mechanical components used and the ease of their manufacture.

Keywords: Space maintainers. Pediatric dentistry. Types of space maintainers.