Volume 26, Issue 119, January 2022

Saudi population knowledge and awareness about orthodontic space maintainers

Ahmed Marghalani¹, Abdulrahman Alomairy², Hanin Alahmadi², Ghadi Aloufi³, Lama Aljuhani³, Norah Alzubedy⁴, Adeeb Alruthaya⁵, Shabib Alharbi⁵, Saif Alharbi⁵, Mohammed Aldughayyim⁶, Amal Althubyani⁷, Basmah Alhassan², Khames Alzahrani^8♦

¹Assistant Professor & Consultant Orthodontist, Ibn Sina National College for Medical Studies, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
²General Dentist, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
³Dental intern, Ibn Sina National College, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
⁴General Dentist, Ibn Sina National College, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
⁵Dental intern, Qassim University, Alrass, Saudi Arabia
⁶General Dentist, Qassim University, Alrass, Saudi Arabia
⁷General dentist, Taibah University, Madinah, Saudi Arabia
⁸BDS, PGD in Endo, Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia

^♦Corresponding author
BDS, PGD in Endo, Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Background: Premature loss of deciduous teeth results in arch discrepancy, crowding, permanent tooth impaction, midline shift, and thereafter function impairment. Due to these reasons, we need a "space maintainer" which is an appliance utilized to maintain a space in a certain arch that had previously been filled by a tooth or more. The purpose of our study was to determine if the Saudi populace has adequate knowledge and awareness of the necessity of space maintainers. Methodology: A population-based cross-sectional survey was conducted in different regions of Saudi Arabia from January 2020 until November 2021. An online questionnaire was used; collect data in Saudi Arabia with a sample size consisting of 690 Saudi adults. Microsoft Office Word Software program (2020) for windows was used to data entry. Data was shifted to the (SPSS) program to be statistically analyzed. Results: The study sample consisted of 690 participants. 16.4% of study sample were males and 83.6% were females. 51.3% aged between 20-30 years old. 54.9% of all participants take their children to the dental clinic twice a year, 16.8% every year and 21% only if there’s a problem with the child. Only 27.5% or our participants knew space maintainers. Conclusion: Finally, there was a lack of knowledge and awareness of space maintainers among the Saudi people. Parents should be urged to clean their children's teeth in order to avoid the development of dental caries and the premature loss of primary teeth.

Keywords: Space Maintainers, Premature Loss, Primary Teeth, Crowding, Tooth Impaction

Medical Science, 2022, 26, ms12e2032

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi/v26i119/ms12e2032

Published: 7 January 2022