The following suggestions regarding the care of your child with a space maintainer should be followed unless otherwise noted by your doctor:
1) Discomfort and Pain: Only minor discomfort or sensitivity is expected after the placement of a space maintainer. Medications such as Tylenol or Advil usually control this discomfort.
2) Diet: Avoid all sticky, chewy, and gummy foods and candies; i.e. gum, taffy. Eating sticky foods may pull off the space maintainer.
3) Oral Hygiene: continue normal brushing and flossing even around the space maintainer.
4) Re-cementation: Occasionally a space maintainer may come loose, or come out, and need to be re-cemented. Please call the office in the event of a loose or lost space maintainer. If your child’s appliance comes out, please bring it with you to the office. We will re-cement the appliance as a courtesy the first time. The need for additional recementations will incur a fee.
5) The appliance should remain in place until the adult tooth starts to come in.
6) If a distal shoe appliance has been placed it will need to be replaced once the permanent tooth erupts.