Parent’s Awareness of the Importance of Space Maintainers in Riyadh; A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Parents' understanding of the dental therapy to retain the deciduous tooth space may influence treatment plans. Parents should be made aware of the consequences of such matters through comprehensive educational initiatives, as well as the preventive measures that can be taken for children during primary or early mixed dentition, as well as the importance of space maintainers in preventing space loss and a variety of malocclusions. To minimize exposure due to COVID-19, data was gathered in Riyadh, through a questionnaire utilizing Google forms and sent to guardians electronically by sending it to their devices. Inclusion criteria include healthy children aged 4 to 12 years old, except special needs children. The majority of parents said their kids didn't lose any teeth because of caries and don't know what'd happen if space is ignored. The majority of them thought adjacent teeth will tilt if there'd be no space maintainers. A high proportion had never heard about space maintainers and their dentists also didn't advise those regarding maintainers. The awareness level about space maintainers among Parents living in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia is low and a lesser percentage know about the space maintainers. Dentists are not creating awareness about the importance of space maintainers and the drawbacks associated with leaving a space between teeth empty, without a space maintainer in case of tooth loss.