Evaluation of Space Maintainers Fabricated by Dental Students: a Retrospective Study

The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate the performance of space maintainers inserted by male undergraduate students in the College of Dentistry at King Saud University during the academic year 2006-2007. Dental records of children who had at least one space maintainer manufactured for them were reviewed. Two interns examined the selected patients and assessed the performance of space maintainers which was categorized into four groups: ssuccessful/removed, successful/currently functioning, failed and lost to follow up. One hundred and three children who had a total 130 space maintainers were examined. The mean age of the patients was 8.4 (±1.39) years, and the mean time elapsed between the insertion of the appliance and examination was 19.6 (±7.43) months. The overall performance of the space maintainers showed that, 42 (32.3%) of the appliances were successful (7.7% were removed and 24.6% still functioning), 26 (20.0%) lost to follow-up and 62 (47.7%) failed. The most common cause of space maintainer failure was complete loss of the appliance followed by breakage and cements loss. There was no significant difference in the performance of space maintainers in terms of age group, gender, arch and type of space maintainer. It can be concluded that about one half of space maintainers inserted by dental students failed in less than two years. Close observation and regular follow-up of the appliances should be emphasized to avoid such outcome.