Volume : 8, Issue : 3, March - 2019

KNOWLEDGE OF DENTAL PRACTITIONERS ON SPACE MAINTAINERS AS TREATMENT MODALITY FOR PREMATURE LOSS OF PRIMARY TEETH

Dr. P. S. Krithika, Dr. Joyson Moses, Dr. Sharanya Ravindran, Dr. Pallavi. C, Dr. Kalpana. H

Abstract :

In human beings, the primary teeth are replaced by the permanent teeth at time of exfoliation. Tooth lost prematurely can cause malocclusion such as ectopic eruption, crowding, cross bite, rotation, excessive overjet and overbite. In such scenarios, space maintainers are used to passively hold the adjacent teeth in position in order to allow for eruption of permanent successors into occlusion. Aim: The study was conducted to assess the knowledge of graduate and post-graduate dental practitioners in north-western part of Chennai on space maintainers. Materials and Methods: The questionnaire consisted of questions related to the clinical and radiographical criteria for the placement and removal of space maintainers. Pediatric dentists were excluded from the study. Results: 97.5 % dentists were aware of the importance of space maintainers. Most of the dentists had knowledge on the case selection criteria, follow- up duration and removal criteria.