Evaluation Of Space Maintainer Applications At Atatürk University Faculty Of Dentistry: A Retrospective Study

AIM: Early loss of primary teeth can lead to malocclusion, failure of permanent teeth

eruption, supraocclusion of opposing teeth and loss of arch dimension. It is necessary to

support the relevant tooth losses with space maintainers urgently to prevent these

conditions,. Our retrospective study aims to compare the quantity of fixed and removable

space maintainers applied to patients who presented to our department in the last 2 years.

MATERIAL AND METHOD:The study was conducted over five six-month periods:

January 1, 2022 - June 30, 2022; July 1, 2022 - December 31, 2022; January 1, 2023 - June

30, 2023; July 1, 2023 - December 31, 2023; and January 1, 2024 - June 30, 2024. During

these periods, the quantities of applied band-loops, lingual arches, Nance appliances, and

removable space maintainers were compared. A total of 768 patients, comprising 395 males

and 373 females, were included in the study. Patients were identified by patient protocol

numbers generated from the database records to protect personal data. The criteria included

in the study from the database were categorized into the following two subgroups. 1. Space

maintainer (fixed) (excluding technician fee) 2. Space maintainer (removable) (excluding

technician fee) Patient data extracted from the hospital database was structured using

Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA, USA) for further analysis. SPSS

software version 25 (IBM Corporation, Armonk, NY, USA) was used to perform statistical

inferences and generate corresponding figures. The Pearson Chi-Square test was used as the

statistical method, with the significance level set at p<0.05.

RESULTS: There was a

significant difference according to the Pearson Chi-Square test (p=0.001) examining the

total quantities of space maintainers applied across different periods. When the total

quantities of the same type of space maintainers were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and

Tukey tests, the total quantity of band-loop space maintainers showed a significant

difference (p<0.05).

CONCLUSION: An increase in the total quantity of space maintainers

applied is observed in the examined periods. The migration to Erzurum following the

earthquake in our country, the global pandemic, the increased number of appointments to

strengthen the services provided to patients and the general anesthesia procedures which

are performing daily in our faculty can be cited as reasons for this situation.

Keywords: Fixed space maintainer; Removable space maintainer, Paediatric dentistry