Space Maintainers for Toddlers

She had a tooth removed. The spacer is necessary to ensure that her permanent tooth has a place to grow in. Having that space means the tooth is more likely to grow in straight (or nearly straight) without complication.

Take her to the appointment. She'll be fine.

I was going to respond not really but since you are saying this is for a back molar, I would go ahead with it. Adult molars don't come in until about 8 yrs old or later so it is going to be quite a few years. If it was a front tooth, you could get away with out it since it is only a yr or 2 before adult teeth come in.

Those back molars sometimes don't come in until your into theearly double digit years
So, yes, you'll save you alot of time, money, and aggravation with dealings with the orthodontist.

My son had one put in when he was almost seven and wore it for a wee bit over 4 years and got it pulled right after his 11th birthday when his back molars started to come thru....and knock on wood, no braces (I hope I didn;t just jinx ourselves -lol)

My son is 7 and he has them on top and bottom. They didn't hurt and are no trouble. He has them because he pulled his teeth early, the maintainers save the space for when the permanent teeth come in. Otherwise they shift and then you have a huge orthodontic bill.

The younger the child the longer it will take for the adult molar to move in, therefore the more important a maintainer is. My son has one because he had two abscessed molars removed a year ago. It really is no big deal, we just go in and have it checked every 3 months and if it comes loose we just call and they fix it up. The cost was all covered up front with all followup apts covered under the initial cost, whether he wears it for 2 years or 5, so it really is not a big deal to have.

Please let us know what you mean by "space maintainers." Do you mean an orthodontist or dentist has recommended that she have spacers put between teeth? That would be how I might interpret it but the post needs more details. Thanks.

If this is about something dental -- I would absolutely get a second opinion. Most orthodontists will do one initial free evaluation for you. Not sure if dentists will do one for free.

Is it possible your child's x-rays show that certain permanent teeth simply are not there, and will never erupt, so the dentist wants to do something so that those spaces are not crowded by other teeth --? Can't imagine any other situation where they'd say to do something for a child this young. They can see what permanent teeth are or aren't present, even at four, and it's not at all strange for some permanent teeth to be missing (never develop). But again -- hard to know what you mean or what you were told.